According to yet another conspiracy theory, NASA is hiding from us the "terrible truth" about a real disaster that will lead to the death of tens of millions of people. Sometimes critical thinking, as well as basic knowledge of physics, can save one from premature panic and belief in various conspiracy theories circulating on social media, Focus reports.
Social media users have spread a claim about an alleged leaked NASA document from 2024 titled "Project Anchor." According to this document, the planet Earth will lose its gravity for 7 seconds on August 12, 2026. The report claims that as a result, between 40 and 60 million people will die. Scientists explain why this cannot happen, as reported by IFLScience.
A TikTok and Instagram user, whose account is currently unavailable, recently posted a video with text claiming that on August 12, 2026, Earth will lose gravity for 7 seconds and that NASA knows about it and is preparing for this event but is not telling anyone to avoid panic. This video garnered over 60,000 likes and was reposted by nearly 270,000 users.
The user spreading this conspiracy theory refers to the alleged leaked NASA document from 2024 titled "Project Anchor," which supposedly details what will happen. The text states the following:
"The duration of the anomalous event when Earth loses gravity will be 7 seconds, resulting in the potential death of 40 to 60 million people. In the first 1-2 seconds, people, vehicles, animals, and unsecured objects will rise upwards. Objects will continue to rise to a height of 15-20 meters after 3-4 seconds. After 5-6 seconds, panic and chaos will ensue, and people will hit the ceiling. But after 7 seconds, gravity will return, and everything will start falling from the height. As a result, infrastructure will be destroyed, and an economic collapse and mass panic will begin. The cause of this anomalous event is that two gravitational waves from black holes will intersect with a probability of 94.7%, and NASA has known about this since 2019."
Firstly, there is no such document as "Project Anchor" available online, nor is there any mention of it or discussion about it by social media users during 2024 to 2025. Secondly, it is surprising why only 40-60 million people could die as a result of losing gravity out of 8 billion inhabitants of Earth.
It is also worth noting that August 12, 2026, is a great date for a conspiracy theory about the end of the world, as it is the date of a total solar eclipse that year. Some people like to associate eclipses with the apocalypse.
The description of what will happen during the alleged loss of gravity on our planet is also puzzling. Especially regarding the claim that people will start rising to a height of up to 20 meters. Newton's first law, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force, and an object moving at a constant speed will continue to move in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.
Under the influence of gravity, an equal and opposite reaction occurs, pushing away from the ground. If gravity were to magically disappear, this reaction would push you, but it would be negligible. If you do not jump at the right moment, you will not rise 20 meters into the air.
As for the reason why Earth is allegedly going to lose gravity, gravitational waves occur as a result of black hole collisions, and they are extremely weak, which is why special detectors had to be created to detect them. Moreover, gravitational wave signals reflect only the last seconds of black hole collisions, not what we can see in advance. Given that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, if NASA can now predict them, it means they have some technology that challenges the laws of physics. But NASA does not study gravitational waves.
Let’s assume that Earth does lose its gravity. How could this happen according to the laws of physics? NASA scientists say that Earth cannot lose its gravity because for that to happen, our planet would have to rapidly lose its mass. Essentially, the planet would have to disappear, and then its gravity would vanish. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, any object with mass has gravity. If there is no mass, there is no gravity. Therefore, Earth cannot lose gravity for 7 seconds and then regain it.
Scientists also state that a total solar eclipse has no effect on Earth's gravity. The same can be said for the Sun and the Moon. The overall gravity of our planet does not depend on them.
Sometimes critical thinking, as well as basic knowledge of physics, can save one from premature panic and belief in various conspiracy theories circulating on social media.
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