18
A radioactive suitcase containing 12 objects


Alan Andres, Senior VFI Scholar, filed this report on Wednesday 13 August 1997.


As reported a fortnight ago, Suitcase 18 has been discovered in a subbasement of Building No. 4 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Pasted on the outside of the suitcase was a note: 'Property of the Physics Dept.' The exterior name tag indicated that it was Tulse Luper's.

The delay in processing this suitcase was due to a lucky coincidence: shortly after its discovery it was accidentally passed near a Geiger counter. The suitcase was found to produce very high radioactive readings which have necessitated its deposition in a lead lined container and inspection has been restricted to investigation with robotic arms or 'waldos' through a heavy glass window.

The contents of the suitcase are as follows,

  1. A 1948 Flying A Gasoline road map to Utah, folded over to the southwest corner of the state.

  2. An LP record issued during the early 1950s of music by Jean Baptiste Lully, Jacques Alkan, Ernest Chausson, Alban Berg

  3. A second LP entitled 'The Comic Mozart: Satirical ensembles, arias and canons -- ebullient and bawdy'

  4. A travel guide to Boston dated 1951

  5. A postcard to Tulse Luper from "Charlie" postmarked August 6, 1952, Moab, UT. The message reads, 'Strike! You've never seen anything like it. Come immediately.' The image on the reverse side is of Jan Steen's 'Skittles Players' currently in the National Gallery, London.

  6. A photograph of 92 smiling suited men. As earlier reported in the VFI Newsletter, issue 2, volume 1, it is believed these men were associates of Tulse Luper's and that each was entrusted with one of the 92 suitcases. The photograph has been passed to the VFI conservationist and should be available for public inspection in the near future.

  7. A Japanese erotic novel

  8. A photo from the 1930s of six men in overcoats and hats (one looks like Sergei Eisenstein)

  9. A membership card to the American Defense League (no name filled in). The motto on the top of the card reads, 'Americans Keeping America American.'

  10. A card apparently taken from the wall of a hotel room. The message is in very large letters: 'MAID! This picture has been stolen. Report its disappearance immediately!'

  11. A vial of sand.

  12. A coyote skull.



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Peter Greenaway		 .........