If you’ve spent even a few minutes on WhatsApp, Facebook, or TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen a shocking claim: on August 12, Earth will experience zero gravity for exactly seven seconds. According to these viral posts, a rare planetary alignment will cancel Earth’s gravitational pull, allowing people to float briefly before gravity returns.
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| Artist’s illustration of Earth and deep space.image-pixelstalk |
The claim often appears with a fake NASA logo or an “official announcement,” making it sound credible. But while it feels like something straight out of a science-fiction movie, the idea collapses completely when examined through real physics. NASA has not issued any warning—because there is nothing to warn about.
Is the August 12 Zero Gravity Claim Backed by NASA?
No. NASA has never confirmed, announced, or acknowledged any event where Earth would lose gravity, not for seven seconds, not for even a fraction of a second.
This rumor is a recycled hoax that has resurfaced multiple times over the decades. In fact, a very similar story first appeared in 1976 as a BBC radio prank, sometimes referred to as the “Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect.
” What began as a joke has now evolved into a modern piece of viral misinformation, amplified by social media algorithms.Any claim suggesting that NASA is hiding or quietly announcing a gravity-free event is simply false.
Can Planetary Alignment Cancel Earth’s Gravity?
This is where the claim completely breaks down scientifically.Gravity is not something that can be “switched off.” It is a fundamental force created by mass. Earth’s gravity exists because Earth has mass, and that mass does not suddenly disappear or weaken due to planetary alignment.
While planets like Jupiter are extremely massive, they are also incredibly far away. The gravitational pull Jupiter exerts on your body is millions of times weaker than the pull of the Earth beneath your feet. Even if every planet in the solar system aligned perfectly—which itself is extraordinarily rare—the effect on Earth’s gravity would be so tiny that no human, instrument, or scale could detect it.In short, planetary alignment cannot cancel Earth’s gravity. The math simply doesn’t allow it.
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| Gravity weakens as distance from Earth increases.image-britannica |
Why Gravity Doesn’t Just “Turn Off”
To understand why this rumor is impossible, it helps to understand what gravity actually is.Earth’s gravity depends on its mass and structure. As long as Earth remains a solid planet with the same mass—and it does—gravity remains constant. For gravity to vanish, Earth would need to lose a significant portion of its mass or stop existing as a planet altogether.
Physics does not take breaks. There is no mechanism in known science that allows gravity to disappear temporarily and then restart seven seconds later.
What Would Happen If Gravity Actually Disappeared?
Ironically, if Earth truly lost gravity—even briefly—the result would not be fun or harmless.Without gravity, Earth’s atmosphere would immediately begin expanding into space. The air we breathe is held down by gravity; remove it, and the atmosphere starts drifting away. Oceans would begin lifting, and loose objects would move unpredictably.
Additionally, Earth rotates at about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator. Gravity keeps everything moving with the planet. If gravity suddenly vanished, objects—including people—would continue moving in straight lines at high speed. It would be a global disaster, not a magical floating moment.The fact that none of this is happening should be enough proof that the claim is false.
Expert Perspective: Why Scientists Reject This Claim
Astrophysicists and orbital mechanics experts are unanimous on this issue.Planetary gravity does not work like addition and subtraction on a calculator. The idea that distant planets could “balance out” Earth’s gravity ignores basic physics principles taught at the school level. No peer-reviewed study, observatory, or space agency supports this claim.
If gravity were unstable enough to disappear for seven seconds, life on Earth would not have survived billions of years in the first place.
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