'You all know we’re not actually going to lose gravity for 7 seconds today right?': why the Weather Channel is reminding us that the eclipse doesn't zap gravity and the study that asked if it has any effect

Wait. There might be some effect?

Features By Lance Ulanoff Published 12 August 2026

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In a few short hours, parts of the Earth will experience a rare and wonderful sight: a full solar eclipse. The moon will squeeze between us and the sun so that Spain, in particular, will, for a few minutes, fall into almost total darkness. What won't happen is that humans and other stationary objects not bolted to the ground will float up into the air. Gravity won't disappear.

But that's not the full story.

Listen, I ended up diving down a rabbit hole this morning, a journey triggered by one Weather Channel post on Threads:

Latest Videos FromTechRadarWatch full video here:

"You all know we’re not actually going to lose gravity for 7 seconds today right? It’s important to me that you know that."

Turns out that there is a wild conspiracy theory going around that the eclipse will somehow trigger a gravity disruption, basically canceling it for 7 seconds.

The rumor was apparently set off, in part, by a TikTok claiming NASA had something called "Project Anchor" addressing the phenomenon.

NASA quickly quashed the rumor, telling Snopes:

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