An absurd conspiracy theory circulating on social media claims that the Earth will lose gravity for 7 seconds on August 12th, causing millions of deaths. NASA has already categorically denied these claims — which catastrophically clash with science.
The alleged global catastrophe began circulating online through social media posts citing an alleged secret document from NASA, called “Project Anchor” (Projeto Âncora), which would have been released in November 2024.
According to the absurd theory, NASA has been aware of the phenomenon for several years, and would be prepare in secret for the event, which would take place precisely at 2:33 pm on August 12th this year.
The viral publication, shared hundreds of thousands of times on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X, describes a apocalyptic scenario: for 7.3 seconds, everything that is not fixed to the ground, whether people, animals or objects, will begin to float, rising between 15 and 20 meters in altitude.
When gravity returns, everything will fall abruptly, resulting in 40 60 million deathsdestruction of infrastructure and an economic collapse that would last more than a decade.
According to , the origin of the theory appears to have been the Instagram account, known as share fictional stories and content generated by artificial intelligence.
The account was inaccessible within days of initial publicationbut the message had already spread like a wildfire through social networks.
The scientific facts
Confronted with the theory, NASA sent a statement to the fact-checking website in which it guarantees that “the Earth will not lose gravity on August 12, 2026″.
“Earth’s gravity is determined by its mass. The only way for the Earth to lose gravity would be if it lost mass from the Earth system — the core, the mantle, the crust, the oceans, the Earth’s water and the atmosphere”, details the statement from the North American space agency.
The NASA note adds that the eclipse solar total, that will actually occur on that date,has no anomalous impact on gravity terrestrial. The gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on Earth is “well understood and predictable with decades in advance“.
William Alstonan expert on black holes at the University of Hertfordshire, explained to the British newspaper that the conspiracy theory demonstrates a “fundamental misunderstanding” about how gravity works.
As for the claim that Earth’s sudden loss of gravity will be caused by gravitational waves from colliding black holes Alston is categorical: “These ripples they are so weak that we had to build the most sensitive detection equipment to observe them, let alone feel their impact on Earth.”
The scientist further explains that these gravitational waves “routinely pass through the Earth and through us, compressing and stretching us in a very subtle way; however, this change is so small, often smaller than the size of an atom, that goes completely unnoticed“.
Anatomy of an absurd theory
In an article in , the astrophysicist Alfredo Carpineti goes further, and destroys the theory. “We are in the age of misinformation, but come on. The Earth is not going to lose gravity for a random period of time on a random date this year. How? And why? Gravity is not something that can be turned on and off“.
The theory presents several basic scientific errors. For example, it states that people would rise 15 to 20 meters into the air during the first few seconds. However, as Carpineti explains, Newton’s first law establishes that a body at rest remains at rest until an external force acts about him.
Without gravity, the reaction force from the ground would push people up, but it would be insufficient to raise them to such altitudes — unless they jumped into the air at that moment.
This is not the first conspiracy theory related to space phenomena to gain traction on social media. Solar eclipses, in particular, have historically been associated with apocalyptic predictions, although ancient civilizations have been able to predict them for thousands of years.
Curiously, August 12, 2026 was a strategic choice for the creators of the theory: on that date a total solar eclipse actually occurs, which will be visible from the Arctic to Portugal and Spainwhich gives the story a appearance of credibility for those who don’t check the facts.
In a world already full of real threats, from climate change to public health crises, the spread of fabricated conspiracy theories only serves to sow unnecessary panic and undermine trust in science.
For those who still have doubts: on August 12, 2026, Earth’s gravity will be working perfectly. In all the others, too.
