NASA assured the world that Earth will not lose gravity on Aug. 12
, dismissing viral conspiracy theories that claimed the planet would experience a gravitational anomaly this week.
Earth’s gravity, or total gravitational force, is determined by its mass
, NASA told Snopes.
The only way for the Earth to lose gravity would be for the Earth system, the combined mass of its core, mantle, crust, ocean, terrestrial water, and atmosphere, to lose mass
, the agency added.
The conspiracy theories have been circulating on social media since late 2025, but
reached a fever pitch this week as the day of its purported arrival — Aug. 12 — neared
.
Online searches for the likes of “gravity” even spiked this week, rising by 60% from last week, according to Google
.
The wild claims alleged that
a leaked NASA document describing “Project Anchor,” a supposed program with an $89 billion budget dedicated to preparing the United States for the calamity caused by the gravitational event
.
The event — supposedly caused by intersecting gravitational waves from black holes — would cause Earth’s gravity to vanish for seven seconds beginning at 10:33 a.m. EST Wednesday, and cause widespread chaos across the planet, according to the theories
.
Anything outdoors and not rooted down to the Earth — people, animals, cars, boulders, trains, oceans, rivers, the moon and more — would become suspended up to 65 feet in the air, while buildings would begin to come apart, the wild theories claim
.
Gravity would then return and everything would come crashing back down — a calamitous event leading to tens of millions of deaths and an economic collapse lasting 10 years and more, according to the debunked theories
.
The conspiracies also claimed NASA and the government had been preparing bunkers for essential personnel and a selection of the populace.
The supposedly top-secret project held little water under scrutiny.
Snopes tracked it down to a single Dec. 2025 Instagram post from an account full of AI-written crackpot stories, with TikToks and tweets grabbing hold of the outrageous yarn and spinning it from there
.
The conspiracies claimed NASA and the government had been preparing bunkers to hold essential personnel and a selection of the populace with genetic diversity for repopulation purposes. However, the supposedly top-secret project held little water when held up to scrutiny — Snopes tracked it down to a single Dec. 2025 Instagram post from an account full of AI-written crackpot stories
.
Additional fuel was added to the conspiracy fire as the public learned of a cosmic convergence on Aug. 12.
But fuel was added to the conspiratorial fire as the masses began to learn of a unique convergence of cosmic events happening on Earth on Aug. 12 — a solar eclipse, an alignment of planets across the dawn sky and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower
.
NASA, however, also dispelled any connection between the celestial happenings and Earth’s gravity.
A total solar eclipse has no unusual impact on Earth’s gravity
, the space agency stated.
The gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on the Earth, which doesn’t impact Earth’s total gravity, but does impact tidal forces, is well understood and is predictable decades in advance
, NASA continued.
In the viral moment that sparked the global panic,
on Dec. 31, Instagram user @mr_danya_of — whose account became unavailable either Jan. 6 or 7, meaning its post was not live at the time of publication — shared a brief video of a man, who did not speak, sitting in a car
.
Overlaid text on the footage read: “On August 12, the world will lose gravity for 7 seconds. NASA knows. They’re preparing but won’t tell us why.”
The post’s caption further claimed: “In November 2024, a secret NASA document titled ‘Project Anchor’ leaked online. The project’s budget is $89 billion, and its goal is to survive a 7-second gravitational anomaly expected on August 12, at 14:33 UTC.”
The post estimated there would be “40 million deaths from falls,” “infrastructure destruction,” “economic collapse lasting over 10 years” and “mass panic.”
The Aug. 12 total solar eclipse will be visible across parts of Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Portugal and other regions.