January 26, 2026 | 02:52 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - NASA has denied the widespread social media claims that the Earth will lose gravity for seven seconds on August 12, 2026. NASA emphasizes that the information has no scientific basis and is classified as a hoax.
The rumor has been widely discussed in the past few weeks and has caused panic online. Several posts even suggest that the event will cause the deaths of tens of millions of people and accuse NASA of deliberately hiding information from the public.
This narrative originated from an Instagram video uploaded by the account @mr_danya_of on December 31, 2025. The video claims the existence of a secret NASA document titled Project Anchor with a budget of US$89 billion, which is said to aim at preparing humans to face gravitational anomalies for seven seconds on August 12, 2026, at 14:33 UTC or 21:33 WIB (Western Indonesia Time). The account was found to be inaccessible several days after the video was uploaded.
The video also mentions that the gravitational anomaly will occur due to the intersection of two gravitational waves from a black hole that NASA claimed to have predicted since 2019. Additionally, there are claims that NASA is building an underground bunker to protect government officials, scientists, military personnel, and certain groups of citizens.
However, these claims have been confirmed to be false. The fact-checking site Snopes stated that no evidence was found regarding the existence of Project Anchor or the leaked documents. NASA emphasizes that these issues contradict basic principles of physics.
NASA explains that the Earth's gravity is determined by its mass and cannot suddenly disappear. "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," said a NASA spokesperson, cited from the Gizmodo report on January 20, 2026.
NASA also emphasizes that Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which explains gravity as the curvature of space-time due to mass, has been rigorously tested and does not support the claim that the intersection of gravitational waves can cause the Earth to lose mass. According to NASA, claims about the intersection of gravitational waves from a black hole are entirely fictional.
Regarding the date of August 12, 2026, NASA states that the only astronomical event predicted to occur is a total solar eclipse. The agency emphasizes that the eclipse does not affect the Earth's gravity.
"A total solar eclipse has no unusual impact on Earth’s gravity," NASA stated. "The gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on the Earth, which doesn’t impact Earth’s total gravity, but does impact tidal forces, is well understood and is predictable decades in advance."
NASA mentions that the total solar eclipse will be visible from Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and parts of Portugal. Meanwhile, most of Europe, Africa, and North America will experience a partial eclipse.
NASA emphasizes that there is no global disaster threat on August 12, 2026, although the event remains a momentous astronomical occasion that the public can witness.
Read: NASA to Conduct First-Ever Medical Evacuation for ISS Astronauts
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