Former NASA engineer exacts perfect revenge on package thieves with hilarious decoy device

If you’re gonna fight against crime, it helps if you have the amazing engineering skills of this guy. If you watch one video today, make it this one.

If you’re going to take sweet revenge on thieves stealing parcels, it helps if you’re a former NASA engineer with some seriously ingenious creative skills.

That just happens to be the credentials of YouTuber Mark Rober, who has put the internet in stitches with his elaborate invention to punish crooks — known as porch pirates in the US — who swipe packages left by couriers at the front door while people are at work.

The 38-year-old YouTuber worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for nine years and has put that knowledge into building what could be the most sophisticated glitter bomb known to man.

On the outside it looks like a brand new Apple HomePod speaker, but instead it delivers a nasty surprise when opened. And the best part is it has cameras with a live feed to capture the moment.

Mark Rober came up with the elaborate scheme after a package was stolen from his doorstep.

Mr Rober posted a video to his 4.5 million YouTube followers this week, describing how he spent six months (“and so much testing”) making the device after someone stole his mail in May. When he reported it to the police, they said there wasn’t anything they could really do about it.

“So then you also feel powerless,” Mr Rober said. “And I just felt like something needs to be done to take a stand against dishonest punks like this.”

So he took matters into his own hands in a way very few people could.

The device is seriously hi-tech. Inside the box is four concealed smartphones that record the thief’s reaction from every angle. It also had a GPS locator and accelerometer that triggered the phones to start recording when the box was moved from the porch.

For our viewing pleasure, the device was complete with a motor to explode packets of glitter and an automatic can of “fart spray” to really punish the thief.

“No joke, you can clear a room with one spray of this,” Mr Rober said. “Not only is this a nice touch, but we keep repeating sprays every five seconds until they throw the package out of their car or house before they realise there is four phones inside.”

This part is genius and it works exactly as intended.

The video of the guy glitterbombing package thieves is my new religion.

— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) December 18, 2018

That’s gonna take some vacuuming.

The reaction to the fart spray is so good.

And thanks to the GPS, Mr Rober was able to go collect his wonderful invention after it had been discarded by befuddled criminals.

The reaction from the few thieves caught out in the video is priceless and after less than two days, the video has been watched more than 14 million times.

Ten out of 10, would watch again.