Published: 21:43 BST, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 23:32 BST, 11 August 2026
A terrifying theory claims that the world will suddenly lose gravity for a handful of seconds on Wednesday, sending all life into a panic as billions float off the ground.
The wild conspiracy, which has been widely shared online since December 2025, alleged that NASA secretly detected the gravitational waves of two black holes which collided millions of years ago heading toward Earth like a killer beam of energy.
Those waves would be so powerful that they would cancel out the force which holds all life from simply floating off the planet for 7.3 seconds at 10.33am ET on August 12, 2026.
Knowledge of the world-changing catastrophe was allegedly kept hidden in a classified NASA document called Project Anchor.
Images of the supposedly leaked document from 2024 claimed that the space agency was working on a $89 billion plan to expand underground bunkers, install hidden tethering systems on critical buildings and prepare for up to 900 million deaths as people worldwide came crashing back down to Earth after seven seconds of zero gravity.
Many of the posts seen on Instagram and TikTok which shared the conspiracy and alleged NASA files have disappeared since they first went viral eight months ago.
However, conspiracy theorists continue to share and believe the controversial claims, even after NASA publicly denounced the story as a complete work of fiction.
A NASA spokesperson declared: 'The Earth will not lose gravity on [August] 12, 2026. 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.'
A conspiracy theory claims Earth will lose its gravity for 7.3 seconds on August 12, 2026, an event that would lead to millions of deaths (Stock Image)
The theory began to spread after a social media post about an alleged NASA plan called Project Anchor went viral in early 2026
The sensational rumor appeared to start around December 31, 2025, with a post from an Instagram user known as @mr_danya_of.
In a lengthy post, the user wrote: 'On August 12, 2026, the world will lose gravity for seven seconds. NASA knows. They're preparing but won't tell us why.'
They also claimed that this would cause millions of deaths from falls, the destruction of infrastructure and an economic collapse projected to last for over a decade.
Skeptics have pointed out how many of the content creator's posts seemed to be AI-generated stories promoting outlandish conspiracy theories.
