Vanilla and modded, initial install and current version, this glitch persists. A number of barrels are invisible in the game world, the first of which being the barrel in the storeroom in Helgen with the potions.
http://imgur.com/PsoPZi9.jpg-- the empty space to the left of the centered Stormcloak is meant to be where the potion barrel is. It can still be interacted with and has the expected collision, but is invisible. Other invisible barrels in the world are like this as well, not visible but present.
In addition to this, there are barrels in a number of places that are inappropriately placed but lack any collision or interaction.
http://imgur.com/C6MLifo.jpg-- Castle Volkihar, Undercroft I believe. Dawnguard side looking for Valerica. Additional such barrels have been noted in the Thalmor Embassy during Diplomatic Immunity, in the party room in front of Razelan's bench, and the Retching Netch in Raven Rock, specifically hovering over the stairs level with the starting floor.
I have tried reinstalling the game, checking with different mods and straight vanilla loads, and anything else I can think of. I have a second generation i5, 8GB RAM, and a GTX 770 if the setup is of import. Graphics settings are set to default High. Assistance on this matter would be appreciated.
Edit: might be pertinent to at least list the mods I use even though this persists across modded and vanilla files.
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch
Cutting Room Floor
Static Mesh Improvements Mod
Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim