Unconfirmed Claim
The 12 August 'gravity switches off' claim, eight days out
A viral rumor says Earth's gravity will stop for seven seconds on 12 August 2026 at 14:33 UTC, citing a secret NASA program called 'Project Anchor'. NASA has denied it on the record. Gravity is produced by Earth's mass, and Earth's mass has no plans.
The claim is specific in the way that makes rumors travel: a codename, an $89 billion budget, a 94.7 percent probability, and a time to the minute. None of it has a document behind it. Fact-checkers trace the story to an Instagram video posted on 31 December 2025; the alleged 'Project Anchor' paperwork has never been produced by anyone, including the people citing it. NASA stated plainly in January 2026 that Earth will not lose gravity on 12 August, and explained why: gravity is the effect of Earth's mass, so losing it would mean losing the planet. Gravitational waves are real and are detected routinely, but they are measured at scales smaller than a proton's width; two of them meeting does not switch off a world. Classified as an unconfirmed claim, denied by the institution it names. Our full reference file walks through the origin, the physics, and the fact-checks.