Former NASA engineer wants to glitter bomb would-be package thieves

Finding the perfect gift for that special someone on your holiday shopping list, only to have it stolen by some nefarious package thieving rapscallion is, to put it in the parlance of our times — really crappy. Fear not, though, intrepid e-commerce shoppers, because the scourge of package theft may soon be a thing of the past, and thanks to science and glitter, in a most glorious way.

That’s because former NASA engineer Mark Rober teamed-up with NordVPN to create a deterrent system that should force would-be package thieves to reconsider their pastime this holiday season. That is, of course, unless those mail absconders have a secret desire to be either a unicorn or a stripper. They might accidentally grab one from Mark’s porch and wind-up setting off a glitter bomb instead.

You read that correctly. Someone might end up “detonating” a glitter bomb if they steal a package from Rober. Because he invented a dummy package that baits package thieves into taking it, and within the dummy package is a glitter bomb that covers the scoundrel in glorious glitter once they try to run or drive off with it. Stray too far from Mark’s home with the faux package, and you might end up getting yourself, or your car’s interior, covered in glitter.

You know there’s video of that amazing-ness to be seen!

According to Gizmodo, Mr. Rober took to the task of designing the glitter bomb package exactly how you’d hope a NASA engineer would — using meticulous testing and documentation of his work.

Rober spent six months designing and testing different bait package set-ups that included cameras and various glitter dispersal methods. He used a 3D-printer, a custom-printed circuit board, GPS, and four phones with cameras. Oh, and fart spray. Seriously. The fart spray is really what puts this thing over the top.

I know I’m not the only one who did at least a small fist pump when they read the part about the fart spray. Maybe I’m the only one who’s going to admit it. But I’m confident most of us did.

Something tells me you’re also going to be interested in this follow-up video, posted by Sean Hodgins — he helped Rober design and build the bomb — which documents the building process. We all know one of the highest and best uses of science is to make cool stuff that covers everything in fabulous glitter.

Seeing these videos made me wonder what other kinds of package theft deterrent systems someone with a lot more engineering know-how than I have could come up with. Drone-fired Nerf pellets? Rigging the package to play Avril Lavigne songs when you try to take it? The possibilities seem endless.

It’s probably good to put a little disclaimer in here that you should think twice, thrice, maybe even as many times as it takes to see that actually crafting any kind of bomb and putting it out in front of your home is a dicey affair in most municipalities. Since Rober teamed up with NordVPN, something tells us the company’s lawyers were sure to protect all parties, but we’re not lawyers, and none of us play them on TV, so yeah, don’t do this at home. No matter how frigging awesome these videos make it look.