A crazy rumor is circulating on the networks: on August 12, 2026 at 2:33 p.m. UTC (4:33 p.m. here), the Earth will lose its gravity for seven seconds, throwing people up to 20 meters high and causing 40 million deaths. The scenario – obviously crazy – is taken seriously by some online conspiracy theorists, who are no longer one crazy theory away.
Their belief is based on a “secret” pseudo-document from NASA, called “Project Anchor”, with a budget of 89 billion dollars (75.3 billion euros) to prepare – hold on – for a “gravitational anomaly” caused by gravitational waves coming from black holes which intersect right at the level of our planet. Enough to feed the anxious TikTok videos and threads conspiracy theorists of the apocalypse, summarizes an article in Popular Mechanics.
For physicists, this story does not hold up for a second. “It’s completely improbable”says Joel Meyers, professor of physics at Southern Methodist University in Texas. He even refuses to assign a numerical probability to the rumor: “It’s just not going to happen.” NASA has also confirmed to fact checkers that no “Anchor Project” exists and that “the only way for Earth to lose gravity would be for the Earth system to lose mass”in other words that our planet is literally emptying itself of its matter.
To understand why “cutting off” gravity is absurd, we have to go back to what it is. Since Einstein, gravitation is not a force that we turn on and off, but an intrinsic property of space-time: matter curves this space-time, and objects follow this curvature. “For the Earth to lose its gravity, space-time itself would have to be manipulated on a very large scale, recalls Joel Meyers. If that were possible, there would be many more useful goals to achieve than turning off gravity on Earth for a few seconds.”
There is also the question of the insane energy required for such a phenomenon to occur. The Earth is “held together” by colossal gravitational binding energy. “Turning it off” would involve overcoming this cohesion, which would require, Joel Meyers calculates, the equivalent of about a trillion times the annual energy consumption of the United States. It would be necessary to devote the entire energy budget of the country for a hundred times the age of the Universe to achieve this. Suffice it to say that no distant black hole can cause such a reset local gravity.
Why August 12?
The date chosen by the conspiracy theorists is not anecdotal: a real astronomical event is planned for that day, a total solar eclipse visible in particular from Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. Like all eclipses, it will slightly modify tidal forces, a perfectly understood and harmless phenomenon, having no effect on the Earth’s gravity field.
The most important question remains: why do so many people want to believe it? ‘It’s fun to speculate on something so unusual’notes Joel Meyers: many share and relay content without really believing in it, just for the thrill. Others do it to join a community, that of those who “know” – or express a visceral distrust of any authority, scientific or institutional.
A harmless plot
Joel Meyers insists: if the slightest solid indication appeared on such an unprecedented gravitational phenomenon, the scientific community would rush to it, and the information would come from serious sources, not from an X-wire or a real Instagram. “If irrefutable experimental evidence were to contradict Einstein’s theory of gravity, the scientific community would accept this evidence as a way to get closer to the truth, rather than reject it”he recalls. The fantasy of a global conspiracy to cover up such an event is in direct contradiction to the way contemporary physics works.
This does not prevent us from playing “What if it were true?”. Joel Meyers took part in the exercise for Popular Mechanics, nevertheless imagining a seven-second period without any gravity. A simple pedestrian would only take off a few tens of centimeters before falling again.
On the other hand, someone who jumped at the right time could climb up to 20 meters. The oceans and atmosphere would begin to swell and overflow their basins, but would not have enough time to escape completely. The disturbances caused by the return of gravity could, however, trigger violent weather or tectonic phenomena.
So don’t worry this summer. On August 12, it will be dark for a few minutes if you are lucky enough to be able to witness the eclipse, but you certainly won’t fly away.
