A bizarre conspiracy theory spreading across social media claims that Earth will lose gravity for 7.3 seconds at 10:33 a.m. ET (2:33 p.m. UTC) on August 12, 2026. According to the viral story, a secret NASA project called “Project Anchor” was supposedly created to prepare for a gravitational anomaly caused by intersecting gravitational waves from black holes. The posts even claim that billions of dollars were spent preparing bunkers and that millions of people could die when everything suddenly began floating.

The theory sounds frightening, but there is no scientific evidence that any such event will happen. Gravity isn’t something Earth can simply switch off. Earth’s enormous mass produces its gravitational field, and distant gravitational waves from black-hole mergers are far too weak to cancel or temporarily remove it. Gravitational waves are real and have been detected by scientists, but when they reach Earth they produce extraordinarily tiny changes in spacetime—not enough to make people, cars, or buildings float into the sky.

The rumor became convincing to some people because it mixed genuine science with invented details: a precise date and time, a supposed secret NASA document, a huge budget, black holes, and claims of a government cover-up. Social-media versions even added stories about scientists supposedly disappearing and fictional research papers. None of these claims provide evidence that Earth’s gravity will disappear. The fact that a solar eclipse occurs on the same date also doesn’t mean gravity will suddenly stop; eclipses have no such effect.

So, what should happen on August 12? You should remain firmly on the ground. Your coffee won’t suddenly float away, cars won’t rise into the sky, and Earth won’t experience a seven-second gravitational shutdown. The viral “7-second gravity” prediction is simply a fictional internet rumor built around real scientific terminology.