The ‘Pizza Index': Can fast food forecast war?

India Today

14-06-2025

As tensions between Israel and Iran flared in recent weeks, a bizarre and long-forgotten theory has re-entered the spotlight the so-called 'Pizza Index.' No, this isn't the latest foodie trend. It's a strange metric some online sleuths claim can predict major military action.The theory, largely fuelled by an anonymous X (formerly Twitter) account, suggests that when pizza deliveries spike near the Pentagon, something big even explosive is on the horizon. And just before Israel launched its latest airstrikes on Iran? The dough started flying. According to the account, pizza orders from three restaurants close to the U.S. Department of Defense surged in the hours leading up to the Israeli assault. One post declared: 'All pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity.' Another claimed that 'District Pizza Palace, just minutes before closing, was experiencing a huge surge in traffic.' Even a nearby Domino's, allegedly close to the White House, reported 'above-average levels of traffic.'Coincidence? Maybe.But believers point to historical precedents. Back in 1990, the night before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, pizza orders reportedly spiked in Washington, D.C. Frank Meeks, who owned several Domino's franchises in the capital, later observed the same trend before the launch of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.The logic behind the theory is surprisingly simple: when major decisions loom, Pentagon staff don't leave their desks. War rooms heat up, phones don't stop ringing, and fast, convenient food like pizza becomes essential sustenance.It's not about dough — it's about deployment.Critics laugh it off as pure coincidence, yet even sceptics admit there's something oddly compelling about how food delivery patterns might mirror global tension.So, did America's cheese-covered secret sauce really foreshadow Israel's strike on Iran?We may never know. But maybe just maybe the biggest clue wasn't buried in classified documents. Maybe it was in a pizza box
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