NASA Debunks Viral Claims of Sun Rising from West

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The phenomenon of the sun rising from the west became a public talking point after going viral on social media in mid-2023. Various Facebook posts linked the event to signs of the apocalypse and the destruction of the universe.

The posts, written in Thai and English, claimed that NASA had a theory regarding the reversal of the sun’s rising direction. They stated that the Earth’s rotation reversing would cause global catastrophe.

The posts also suggested Earth could undergo a magnetic field reversal, claiming NASA supported this theory. One post read: ‘The Earth would rotate in the opposite direction, causing the sun to rise from the west. Researchers believe we are moving towards a magnetic field reversal that would lead to the end of humanity and the apocalypse,’ cited on 30 May 2026.

However, NASA has never endorsed these claims. Bettina Inclan, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Communications, stated neither the agency nor other scientific organisations support the theory. NASA acknowledges magnetic field changes have occurred historically and are studied by scientists, but Inclan refuted the assertion that this would reverse Earth’s rotation.

‘Magnetic field reversals are real phenomena that have happened multiple times in the past and are studied globally. However, the claim that this would cause the Earth to rotate in reverse, leading to the sun rising from the west, is false,’ Inclan said.

It is worth noting that Venus, which rotates in the opposite direction, experiences the sun rising from the west. Venus takes 243 Earth days to complete one rotation and 225 days to orbit the sun. This results in the sun rising once every 117 Earth days, or twice per Venusian year.