After an alleged thief stole Mark Rober's package, he began planning his epic revenge: A fake Amazon box that would explode glitter, emit a stench and record the thief's reaction all at once.
Rober said he was the victim of package theft when a woman captured on his home surveillance video stole a box off of his doorstep. He said when he told the police, and even offered the video, they couldn't investigate. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
It just so happens that Rober is an engineer who's worked on NASA's Curiosity Rover and an avid YouTuber. So, he joined with his friend Sean Hodgins, who makes custom circuit boards, to create a high-tech box that could shoot glitter, trigger a "fart spray" and capture video using four hidden phones when opened. More than six months later, the box that looked like an Apple HomePod sent via Amazon was ready to be captured.
Rober even affixed a return address for Kevin McCallister, with an address of the actual house where the "Home Alone" movies were filmed. And, who's the package to? Harry and Marv.
Rober documented the process on his YouTube channel in a video sponsored by private network service provider company NordVPN.
Sure enough, Rober said he received a notification at work that the glitter-filled box was taken. A GPS inside the box activates when it's taken off of Rober's property. He followed the coordinates to a parking garage, assuring viewers "this isn't a prank channel."
He recovered the box, and the recorded footage showing a man being covered by glitter, shouting profanity and clearly upset his car interior will be sparkling for days.
The video goes on to show a series of more thieves who fell for the glitter bomb box trap. It appears in one capture, the box even rolls recorded audio to the thief: "Keep the change you filthy animal."
"The moral of the story is just don't take other peoples' stuff, Rober said in the video. "Not only is it not cool, but on the plus side, you'll never find yourself in this situation."
