'Project Anchor' — claim that gravity switches off on 12 August 2026
- Claimant
- Anonymous social-media accounts citing an unpublished 'NASA document' (Rumor / popular framing)
- Current status
- Denied by NASA on the record in January 2026. No such program, document, or physical mechanism has been identified.
What was predicted
01That at 14:33 UTC on 12 August 2026, intersecting gravitational waves will switch off Earth's gravity for seven seconds, per a secret NASA program called 'Project Anchor'.
A viral rumor that Earth's gravity will stop for seven seconds on 12 August 2026. NASA has stated plainly that it will not; gravity is produced by Earth's mass, which is not going anywhere.
Who made the claim
02Anonymous social-media accounts citing an unpublished 'NASA document' — rumor / popular framing.
How the claim spread
03Fact-checkers trace the narrative to an Instagram video of 31 December 2025 presenting an alleged 'Project Anchor' document. It moved to TikTok, X, and Threads through early 2026, drawing millions of views and prompting an explicit NASA denial, a BBC Bitesize explainer, and fact-checks in several countries.
WHY IT RESONATEDThe claim arrives with institutional furniture — a codename, an $89 billion budget, a 94.7 percent probability, and a time to the minute — none of which has a document behind it.
What is on the record so far
04Still upcoming at the time of review. NASA's position is unambiguous: Earth will not lose gravity on that date, because losing gravity would mean losing the mass that produces it.
Why the prediction was unreliable
05There is no document, no program, and no mechanism. Gravitational waves are real but are measured at scales smaller than a proton's width; two of them meeting does not cancel a planet. The claim's precision is decoration, not derivation.
Sources
06- NewsNation — NASA denies claim that Earth will lose gravity for 7 seconds in August 2026Independent reporting
- BBC Bitesize — Is gravity going to 'switch off' for seven seconds this summer?Independent reporting
- Tempo Fact Check — Will Earth lose gravity for 7 seconds on August 12, 2026?Independent reporting
- Popular Mechanics — a physicist on the gravity-shutdown theoryIndependent reporting
Related predictions
07Return to Predictions Calendar
08Browse every dated entry on record — end of the world predictions by year, from historical failed apocalypses to upcoming doomsday dates.