# A former NASA engineer creates a glitter- and stink-bomb trap for package thieves **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 18, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342 "2018-12-18T21:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/41 "2018-12-19T23:58:06Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Yes, he is a successful Youtube content produce (4 some million subscribers), so paid sponsorships and ads are how he makes money. This is no different from saying that the whole point of a popular TV show is to sell commercials. You can debate all day if the creative or capitalist motive comes first, but making a profit doesn’t have to detract from the enjoyability of the content. Right, but I was responding to **Just Asking Questions** who said that it seemed like a lot of work for a small payoff; my point being that the payoff may be a large financial payoff rather than just the satisfaction of pranking a few thieves. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/42 "2018-12-20T00:06:10Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Sure, it’s fun and all, but doesn’t it seem to be a bit…much? > > Six months of R&D, four cell phones (and plans!) custom printed circuit board, spinner motor, 3D printed box, fart spray motor, fart spray. > > All that time and money to non-permanently punk some people you’ll never meet, who aren’t going to stop stealing packages. Hell, they’re probably telling their friends the story and laughing. > > And all that assuming they don’t remember where they got the package and hunt you down. > [@davidm](#): > > Right, but I was responding to **Just Asking Questions** who said that it seemed like a lot of work for a small payoff; my point being that the payoff may be a large financial payoff rather than just the satisfaction of pranking a few thieves. This is what he does. If you look at the other videos on his page, many of them are very large projects that I’m sure take a lot of time/engineering/money to get done. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/43 "2018-12-20T03:53:16Z")
I understand the visceral satisfaction of seeing a thief getting what’s coming to him, but I can’t get behind this. There’s a reason why booby traps are illegal – because you can’t be sure that an innocent party won’t be harmed. What if the thief is the passenger in a moving car and sets this off, causing the driver to plow into oncoming traffic? That seems like a significant possibility, given how these jackasses seem to work in teams. More importantly, the video and the entirely positive reception it’s getting is likely to encourage other, dumber package vigilantes to cook up their own exploding boxes. I doubt that the imitators will have the same NASA engineering background. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/44 "2018-12-20T04:05:50Z")
Am I the only one that feels like this is fake? The engineering seems solid but it would only work if you have the box upright and slide it open in a very specific manner otherwise it would spill not launch. Except for the one time it worked perfectly and the cameras remained in a perfectly upright position to get the best shot. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/45 "2018-12-20T05:11:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Am I the only one that feels like this is fake? The engineering seems solid but it would only work if you have the box upright and slide it open in a very specific manner otherwise it would spill not launch. Except for the one time it worked perfectly and the cameras remained in a perfectly upright position to get the best shot. I thought it might be, too. The images looked too pat, too perfect. Nothing you could quantify, but it looked “off”. And in answer to the question, what else would he be doing? How about designing another Mars probe? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/46 "2018-12-20T17:13:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I thought it might be, too. The images looked too pat, too perfect. Nothing you could quantify, but it looked “off”. > > And in answer to the question, what else would he be doing? How about designing another Mars probe? When it comes to viral videos I trust my gut. When something feels off it almost always is. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/47 "2018-12-20T18:04:22Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Am I the only one that feels like this is fake? The engineering seems solid but it would only work if you have the box upright and slide it open in a very specific manner otherwise it would spill not launch. Except for the one time it worked perfectly and the cameras remained in a perfectly upright position to get the best shot. I think that’s a tribute to the design. The packaging is a sleeve outside a box. Opening one of those naturally leads to you set the box upright, pull the sleeve upwards and let gravity do the rest. We also don’t know if there were any other complete failures that he didn’t include. I’m not saying I’d be shocked it was fake, but I also don’t see the reason for skepticism. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/48 "2018-12-20T18:28:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > This is what he does. If you look at the other videos on his page, many of them are very large projects that I’m sure take a lot of time/engineering/money to get done. The dartboard that calculates the trajectory of your dart and moves itself to give you an automatic bullseye all in the time it takes the dart to hit the board is pretty inspired, actually. A few points deducted for using a commercial motion capture solution instead of rolling his own, but still. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/49 "2018-12-21T16:54:16Z")
At least some of **Loach’s** suspicions were valid. [Internet sleuths have picked apart the video](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/glitter-bomb-package-thief-video-not-entirely-real) and determined that at least some of the “thieves” were actually friends or neighbors. The creator has now edited the video to remove the reactions of a couple of the people, but he says the rest are really truly for realz. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/50 "2018-12-21T19:46:11Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > At least some of **Loach’s** suspicions were valid. [Internet sleuths have picked apart the video](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/glitter-bomb-package-thief-video-not-entirely-real) and determined that at least some of the “thieves” were actually friends or neighbors. The creator has now edited the video to remove the reactions of a couple of the people, but he says the rest are really truly for realz. :dubious: And yet, people still believe and support him. A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest, mmm hmm hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/51 "2018-12-21T20:23:36Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > At least some of **Loach’s** suspicions were valid. [Internet sleuths have picked apart the video](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/glitter-bomb-package-thief-video-not-entirely-real) and determined that at least some of the “thieves” were actually friends or neighbors. The creator has now edited the video to remove the reactions of a couple of the people, but he says the rest are really truly for realz. :dubious: This brings to mind the “Thirteenth Strike Rule,” which says, If a clock strikes thirteen, not only is it by itself false, but it casts doubt on the other twelve. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/52 "2018-12-21T20:30:08Z")
I hate being right all the time. It’s a burden.😃 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/53 "2018-12-21T20:47:51Z")
But it is a really cool thing he built. I have to give him that. My fear for the guy was that a disgruntled burglar would come back for revenge. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/54 "2018-12-23T05:26:29Z")
Aw, shoot. Too good (and too satisfying) to be true, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/55 "2018-12-23T06:52:10Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > My fear for the guy was that a disgruntled burglar would come back for revenge. I don’t think I’d be too concerned about that. People who steal packages from doorsteps are unlikely to be hardcore gangsters; and if I saw that package I’d assume that the guy who designed it would be the type to have surveillance cameras all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342/56 "2018-12-24T14:18:02Z")
I read his apology. He said that he asked friends to host the package, and in order to compensate them for their time, he would pay them for successful recoveries. It appears one of his friends staged a few incidents to boost returns. He had removed those from the video. I can accept his story. It’s plausible. It may be that he was worried about the liability of leaving the package for real. That’s also a possibility. Given that he has posted the plans for building, I’m willing to accept that he did it for real, and one of his friends t took advantage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-nasa-engineer-creates-a-glitter-and-stink-bomb-trap-for-package-thieves/826342.md?page=2)