What Is Pizza Index Theory, And Why Is It Trending After Israel's Strikes On Iran

News18

14 hours ago

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Reportedly, pizza orders from three restaurants around the Pentagon increased ahead of Israel's airstrikes on Iran.
As tensions escalate in the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, a bizarre theory known as the 'Pizza Index" has resurfaced on social media. The theory suggests a correlation between spikes in pizza orders near the Pentagon and impending geopolitical crises.
A recent surge in delivery activity around the U.S. Department of Defence in Washington, D.C., was flagged by a popular social media account, Pentagon Pizza Report. The account shared a series of posts claiming that pizza orders from three local restaurants spiked just before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.
'As of 6:59 pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity," the post read. This was about an hour before Iranian state television reported explosions in Tehran.
pic.twitter.com/ZUfvQ1JBYM — Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport) June 12, 2025
The account shared Google Maps activity from four pizza places close to the Pentagon -We, The Pizza, District Pizza Palace, Domino's and Extreme Pizza. It showed all of them getting more orders than usual during this time.
'With about an hour left before close, the 2nd closest Domino's to the Pentagon (about an eight-minute drive) is experiencing EXTREMELY high levels of traffic compared to a normal Thursday at about 11:00 pm ET," said another post from the account.
The unusual pizza surge didn't go unnoticed. Social media users shared their thoughts in the comments section.
A user said, 'The Pentagon needs its own pizza place inside the building. This is embarrassing."
Another said, 'This was a great catch, within an hour bombs flying in Tehran."
'Google maps research beats some spy agencies around the world," someone else reacted.
'The kind of analytics we love," read another comment.
The pizza theory has become a somewhat reliable way of predicting major global events over the years. The theory is simple. When something serious is going on and staff at the Pentagon can't leave their desks, they often order pizza. So, a sudden rise in pizza deliveries could mean something important is happening behind the scenes.
According to NT News, the phenomenon is nothing new and goes back to the Cold War. Back then, Soviet intelligence reportedly kept an eye on pizza deliveries as a way to track possible U.S. military activity. They even came up with a term for it – Pizzint, short for pizza intelligence.
This kind of activity has shown up several times over the years. In 1989, right before the US entered Panama, pizza orders reportedly doubled. In 1990, a Domino's franchise owner in Washington D.C., noticed a sudden rise in orders going to CIA buildings. The very next day, Iraq invaded Kuwait. A similar increase in pizza demand was also seen during the 1998 impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton.