Conspiracy

Bizarre conspiracy theory claims Earth's gravity will stop for 7 seconds

By T.K. Randall
January 23, 2026 ·  11 comments

Image: Earth and Universe
Credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) We've heard a lot of 'out there' conspiracy theories over the years ranging from the Earth being flat to the Roman Empire being a hoax, but this latest one, which started doing the rounds on social media recently, is perhaps one of the weirdest we've heard in a long time.

The idea is essentially that on August 12th, 2026 at 19:33 ET (14:33 GMT), the Earth's gravity will simply switch off for a period of 7 seconds and that NASA knows all about it and is covering it up.

The basis for this bizarre claim is an alleged leaked NASA document about something called Project Anchor - a document that doesn't actually seem to exist anywhere online.

The idea has actually caused a great deal of concern, in particular regarding the potential consequences of everything and everyone floating freely and then falling back down.

Some have even suggested that 40 million people could die from falling injuries.NASA, however, has since moved to play down such concerns.

"The Earth will not lose gravity on August 12, 2026," a spokesperson told Snopes.

"Earth's gravity, or total gravitational force, is determined by its mass."

"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."

Whether this response will be enough to dissuade conspiracy theorists, however, remains unclear.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (11)

Tags: Gravity