Android phones power this glitter-bomb (Update: Parts were staged)

Update, December 21, 2018 (03:15 PM ET): Although the video of an Android-powered glitter/fart bomb described below was absolutely hilarious, apparently, it wasn’t all genuine.

The video’s creator, Mark Rober, took to Twitter to admit the unfortunate deception. Apparently, the development of the bomb and its effects are all genuine, as are the first criminal depicted picking up (and setting off) the bomb. However, the montage of other “criminals” who took the package from a porch are not genuine, in that some of them are just friends of the next door neighbor Rober gives the bomb to in the video.

The reason someone would give a live glitter/fart bomb to a friend with the intention of it blowing up in their face is due to the financial compensation Rober offered this friend for every “criminal” they successfully bombed. Apparently, two out of the five “criminals” in the video were just friends of this friend, and thus not genuine. Rober has removed those people from the video.

Rober admits this slight deception is his fault. “I should have done more. Full stop,” he said. “That is totally on me and I will take all necessary steps to make sure it won’t happen again.”

Check out the full statement in the tweet below:

Original Article, December 18, 2018 (03:51 PM ET): Ex-NASA engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober has a common problem: thieves are stealing his Amazon packages right from his front porch. He has a Nest security cam that records the thievery, but the local police claim it’s simply not worth the effort to catch the culprits.

Well, porch thieves messed with the wrong guy, because Rober ends up working for months developing what he refers to as his “Magnum Opus“: a decoy Amazon delivery package that is actually a glitter bomb which sprays farts and records both audio and video during the whole explosion.

The glitter bomb (or fart bomb, depending on which aspect of the bomb makes you happiest) is powered by four Android phones, connected together with a custom-made circuit board. Rober explains exactly how everything works in the YouTube video below, but basically, when an unsuspecting thief opens up the package, glitter shoots out everywhere, fart smells fill up their location — and four Android smartphones record everything and upload the footage to the cloud.

The video below starts with Rober detailing the problem of Amazon box thievery, then walks the viewer through how he created his glitter bomb. The last few minutes are filled with the results: actual thieves opening the box to discover its horrifying contents:

What do you think? Do you have a problem with thieves stealing packages? Would you use one of these glitter bombs on them? Is this the funniest thing you’ve seen all year? Let us know in the comments.

Also, in case you’re wondering where you can buy this “Fart Spray,” we got you covered: