{"id":426143,"date":"2026-01-20T19:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/426143\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T19:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:59:09","slug":"no-earth-wont-lose-gravity-for-7-seconds-on-august-12-nasa-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/426143\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Earth Won\u2019t Lose Gravity for 7 Seconds on August 12, NASA Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks, a rumor claiming that Earth would \u201close gravity<\/a>\u201d for 7 seconds on August 12, 2026, has whipped up an online frenzy. Social media users warned the catastrophe would kill tens of millions of people and even claimed\u2014perhaps even more disturbingly\u2014that NASA knows this is coming and is deliberately staying silent.<\/p>\n

These wild claims stemmed from a reel posted by Instagram user @mr_danya_of<\/a> on December 31, 2025, whose account became unavailable just days later. The video showed<\/a> a man sitting in a car, not speaking, while overlaid text read<\/a>: \u201cIn November 2024, a secret NASA document titled \u201cProject Anchor\u201d leaked online. The project\u2019s budget is $89 billion, and its goal is to survive a 7-second gravitational anomaly expected on August 12, 2026, at 14:33 UTC [10:33 a.m. ET].\u201d<\/p>\n

The text went on to claim that the anomaly would result from the intersection of two gravitational waves<\/a> from black holes, predicted by NASA in 2019 with a probability of 94.7%. It also claimed the agency is \u201cbuilding underground bunkers\u201d to provide refuge for government leaders, scientists, military personnel, and \u201cselected citizens with genetic diversity\u201d during the event.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is all completely bogus. Neither Gizmodo nor Snopes, a fact-checking and investigative reporting website, found<\/a> any evidence to support the existence of Project Anchor or the documents that had supposedly been leaked online. When Snopes contacted NASA about the rumor, a spokesperson said exactly what we\u2019re all thinking: That\u2019s not how gravity works.<\/p>\n

A gravity primer for internet conspiracy theorists <\/p>\n

In their response, the NASA spokesperson astutely pointed out that Earth\u2019s gravity is determined by its mass. \u201cThe 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,\u201d they wrote, according to Snopes.<\/p>\n

Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity describes<\/a> gravity not as a force, as Newton did, but as the curvature of spacetime. Massive objects such as planets warp the fabric of spacetime around them, and less-massive objects move along the curved paths this distortion creates, experiencing it as gravity.<\/p>\n

Imagine placing a bowling ball (Earth) onto an outstretched rubber sheet (spacetime). The bowling ball would stretch the rubber and sink, creating a depression. Now, imagine placing a ping pong ball (a less massive object) at the edge of the sheet. It would roll down toward the bowling ball because it must travel along a surface deformed by the presence of an object with greater mass.<\/p>\n

General relativity is one of the most rigorously tested<\/a> theories in science and remains our best explanation for how gravity works. There is no evidence to suggest that the intersection of two gravitational waves from black holes would cause Earth to lose mass and subsequently gravity, but even if there was, this \u201cpredicted\u201d gravitational wave crossover is entirely fictitious.<\/p>\n

No black hole catastrophe, just an eclipse <\/p>\n

Neither Snopes nor Gizmodo could find any evidence to support the claim that NASA had predicted that two gravitational waves from black holes would intersect on August 12. However, the agency\u2019s website does state<\/a> that a solar eclipse will occur on that date.<\/p>\n

\u201cA total solar eclipse has no unusual impact on Earth\u2019s gravity,\u201d the NASA spokesperson reportedly told Snopes. \u201cThe gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on the Earth, which doesn\u2019t impact Earth\u2019s total gravity, but does impact tidal forces, is well understood and is predictable decades in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to NASA, totality will be visible from Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and a small part of Portugal, while much of Europe, Africa, and North America will experience a partial eclipse. So while there\u2019s no need to prepare for a global cataclysm, August 12 is still worth marking on your calendar if you don\u2019t want to miss a breathtaking celestial event.<\/p>\n