Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ
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SCIENCE

The Claim

The Earth will experience a loss of gravity for seven seconds during the solar eclipse in August 2026.

The Short Version

This claim is false. NASA has explicitly stated that a solar eclipse has "no unusual impact on Earth's gravity" and that Earth cannot "lose gravity" without losing mass. The claim originated from a viral social media conspiracy post. While eclipses produce tiny, ordinary tidal variations in local gravity (on the order of 0.0000178%), this is not a "loss of gravity" — and certainly not a seven-second global shutdown. No credible scientific evidence supports this claim.

Caveats

  • This claim originated from an unverified Instagram conspiracy post and has no scientific basis.
  • Tiny tidal-force variations during eclipses are normal and imperceptible — they are not a 'loss of gravity' in any meaningful sense.
  • NASA has directly and repeatedly debunked this specific claim through multiple news outlets.

The Receipts

  1. The Earth Observer: Offering Perspectives from Space through Time

    NASA Science

  2. Eclipses Create Atmospheric Gravity Waves - NASA Student Teams

    NASA

  3. Viral claim says earth will lose gravity for seven seconds on August ...

    The Economic Times

  4. Will Earth lose gravity in 2026? Viral 'Project Anchor' claim sparks panic—NASA responds

    Times of India

  5. NASA Debunked The Conspiracy Theory That Earth Will Lose ... - BGR

    BGR

  6. Will Earth Really Lose Gravity in 2026? - VICE

    VICE

  7. Earth's Gravity Could Undergo a Bizarre Change, According to This ...

    Popular Mechanics

  8. Totality: Scientists studied our planet's reactions

    Science News

  9. Solar Eclipse Anomalies and Wave Refraction

    arXiv

  10. Enigmatic Gravity Effects Observed during Solar Eclipses

    Academic Research Publishing (CCSE)

+ 3 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

August 2026Earthsolar eclipse

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