Over a week ago, a significant surge in pizza deliveries around the Pentagon, the US Defence Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C, led to social media speculations about something ‘big’ happening in the coming days. The increased activity in the pizza outlets near the Pentagon, which hinted at officials engaged in work for long hours, coincided with the rumours of the death of US President Donald Trump. This led ‘Trump is dead’ to trend on X, as people wondered if the rumours were really true.
On August 29, 2025, an X account named Pentagon Pizza Report, which monitors online pizza orders near government agencies like the Pentagon and CIA, reported a sudden spike in pizza orders from outlets like the Domino’s Pizza, Pizzato Pizza, and District Pizza Palace. A surge of 800% was reported in the pizza orders near the Pentagon; however, the reason for the sudden surge was not clear.
Various pizzerias nearby the Pentagon are reporting high traffic.
As of 1:08pm ET pic.twitter.com/LnPVrc8Wvx
— Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport) August 29, 2025
Both Dominos locations located very close to the White House are reporting above average traffic for a Saturday at 8:33pm ET pic.twitter.com/kNSBDeeq19
— Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport) August 31, 2025
The Pentagon Pizza Index and its origins
One might wonder what the connection is between the surge in late-night pizza deliveries in the US government offices and the speculations of something ‘major’ taking place. This is because of a viral theory called the Pentagon Pizza Index, which suggests that a sudden increase in late-night pizza orders near the US government offices could be an indicator of a national security crisis, military action or something else of similar scale.
In other words, an increased demand for food implies US government officials working long hours, which usually happens in case of a crisis or some other serious situation. While the connection between US government officials working late hours and the spike in pizza deliveries to the US government offices seems plausible, the theory lacks a scientific basis and has not always been true, as in the case of rumours of Trump’s death and the increased Pentagon Pizza Index. However, the theory still attracts the curiosity of people as it has been proven true on many other occasions.
The Pentagon Pizza Index theory originated during the period of the Cold War. During that time, the Soviet intelligence agents in Washington, DC kept a close watch on local pizza deliveries to the US military headquarters to estimate the preparedness of the US military. The pizza intelligence, which came to be referred to as ‘Pizzint’, helped in calculating activities within the US government offices by monitoring the number of food orders placed from the government buildings.
How pizzeria owners popularised the Pentagon Pizza Index Theory
This method of estimating or predicting the US military actions gained traction over time, with local pizzeria owners contributing to its popularity. One such pizzeria owner, named Frank Meeks, who owned 43 Domino’s franchises in Washington, D.C., played a key role in hyping the Pentagon Pizza Theory.
In 1991, Meeks reportedly gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times, in which he said that the media doesn’t always know when something big is going to happen, but pizza deliveries know. He recounted that 21 pizzas were delivered to the CIA headquarters on August 1, 1990, hours before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. He also pointed out similar spikes in pizza deliveries to the Pentagon before the US invasion of Panama and the Grenada operation.
Surge in Pentagon Pizza orders before US military actions
As per reports, food orders from the Pentagon doubled the night preceding the Panama attack in 1989. A similar pattern is said to have been noted before the Grenada invasion of 1983. The Pentagon Pizza Index theory was also found to be true during the US invasion of Iraq, which uprooted the Saddam Hussein regime. The US officials, working late hours to plan the US response in Iraq, placed massive orders of pizzas.
The Pentagon Pizza Index also reportedly surged before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq (1990), the Nato bombing of Serbia (1999), the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Nato intervention in Libya (2011). The most recent example of the Pentagon Pizza Index theory proving accurate was in June 2025, when the pizza deliveries to the Pentagon shot up hours before explosions were reported in Tehran, Iraq. In 1998, a surge 250% was reportedly registered in pizza deliveries to the White House during Operation Desert Fox and the impeachment of President Clinton. While the theory has been dismissed by the US government officials, the above-mentioned instances prove that the theory does not always miss the mark.
Like the Pentagon Pizza Index theory, there are several other similar theories, such as the Hemline Index, Lipstick Index, and the Men’s Underwear Index, which lack any scientific basis but continue to invoke the curiosity of people with their occasional accuracy.
