What official statements has NASA released about Project Anchor or related programs?
Executive summary
NASA has publicly rejected the viral "Project Anchor" narrative and explicitly denied that Earth will "lose gravity for seven seconds" or that a classified NASA program by that name exists, according to agency statements relayed to news outlets and fact-checkers [1] [2]. Independent reporting and NASA databases show no record of a modern classified program called "Project Anchor," though the agency has historical technical work on lunar/planetary anchoring systems in archival documents [3] [4].
1. NASA’s explicit denials: “Not true” and a spokesperson’s clarification
When the social-media claim that Earth would experience a seven‑second loss of gravity resurfaced, NASA responded directly through spokespeople and email to multiple outlets, stating the rumor was false and that there is no evidence supporting a gravity blackout or a secret program called Project Anchor [1] [2]. News organizations that contacted NASA reported the agency noted gravitational attraction is determined by Earth’s mass and cannot “turn off” in the way the viral posts described, a physical point the agency reiterated while debunking the rumor [1].
2. What NASA confirmed instead: an eclipse and predictable tidal forces
In addressing the viral posts, NASA pointed reporters to real, well‑known celestial events — for example, confirming that an August solar eclipse will occur and is predictable decades in advance — and emphasizing that solar and lunar tidal effects are well understood and do not alter Earth’s total gravity as claimed in the rumor [1] [5]. Those clarifications were used by outlets to contrast credible, documented phenomena with the sensational claims circulating online [1].
3. Absence of a public or classified “Project Anchor” in official records
Multiple fact‑checks and reporting efforts found no trace of a contemporary NASA program named Project Anchor in public filings, budget documents, TechPort entries, congressional disclosures, or reputable news archives, and NASA officials confirmed there is no such program publicly known to the agency [4] [2] [6]. TechPort — NASA’s technology portfolio database — and other agency resources were cited as places one would expect to find a legitimate, funded program, yet searches turned up no matching project in current portfolios [4] [6].
4. Historical uses of the word “anchor” in NASA research (context, not corroboration)
The archival NASA Technical Reports Server includes older technical work on anchors for lunar and planetary applications — for example, a 1995 report on prototype anchor designs and emplacement systems for lunar simulant soils — which shows the term “anchor” appears in legitimate technical literature but is unrelated to the viral modern claim [3]. That historical usage explains why the word might surface in documents or searches, but the presence of past anchor‑technology research does not constitute evidence of a present-day classified program preparing for a gravity blackout [3].
5. Alternative viewpoints, misinformation dynamics and institutional agendas
Independent fact‑checkers and outlets (Snopes, The Economic Times, BreezyScroll, Vice, NewsNation) uniformly treated the claim as misinformation, citing NASA’s denials and the absence of corroborating records while warning about virality on platforms like TikTok where the claim originated [7] [2] [6] [8] [5]. Some commentators framed the phenomenon as part of a broader information‑disruption problem — where authoritative sounding details (dates, dollar figures, technical language) are used to manufacture credibility — and noted that such narratives can reflect hidden agendas like driving engagement, sowing fear, or monetizing clicks rather than conveying verifiable science [9].
Conclusion: what the official record shows and where uncertainty remains
The official record, as published and quoted by multiple reputable outlets, is clear: NASA has denied the Project Anchor/gravity‑loss claims and there is no public evidence of a current NASA program by that name or any physics‑based mechanism for a seven‑second global loss of gravity [1] [2] [6]. The only related “anchor” material in NASA archives is historical technical research on lunar anchors, which does not substantiate the viral narrative [3]. Reporting has been consistent across fact‑checkers and mainstream media, but if further official NASA statements or documents appear, those would be the necessary sources to revisit any outstanding questions — current public records offer no support for the Project Anchor claims [4] [2].