Pizza establishments located close to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., recorded a surge in activity after the Israeli military launched attacks on targets in Iran in the early hours of June 13, according to a prominent social media account.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Defense for comment on Saturday via email outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Reports that pizza orders from the Pentagon surge around times of major military operations by the U.S. or its allies date back to the American invasion of Panama in December 1989.
If true, American adversaries could potentially get a tipoff about upcoming military action by monitoring pizza eateries close to the Pentagon.
What To Know
The Pentagon Pizza Report is an account on X, formerly Twitter, with more than 80,000 followers that monitors how busy pizza establishments and other venues near the Pentagon are using open-source data.
According to the account, at 6:59 p.m. ET on Thursday “nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity.”
The account’s post included screenshots of Google data showing the popularity of pizza joints in Washington, D.C. Domino’s, District Pizza Palace and We, the Pizza were all dramatically above what was typical for that time of the day.
Google provides data on how busy restaurants are via Google Maps, though it shows only their popularity versus what is typical rather than exact figures.
The Pentagon Pizza Report also said a gay bar close to the Pentagon had “abnormally low traffic for a Thursday night” as Israeli strikes were underway.
According to The Guardian,deliveries of pizzas to the Pentagon doubled immediately before the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama and the 1991 Kuwait liberation campaign called Operation Desert Storm.
The publication reported that while there are a number of eateries in the Pentagon—where almost 30,000 people work each day, according to Arlington National Cemetery Tours—it doesn’t have its own pizzeria.
Israel launched a series of strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, scientists and military leaders in the early hours of Friday using more than 200 fighter jets.
Israel says it attacked to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, though Tehran has said its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was informed about the strikes before they took place, and a U.S. military official told Newsweek that American forces helped defend Israel from a retaliatory Iranian missile attack on Friday. There have been no reports of U.S. strikes taking place against Iran itself.
On Friday night and early Saturday morning, Iran launched missiles at Israeli targets, some of which made it past Israel’s air defenses.
What People Are Saying
Alex Selby-Boothroyd, The Economist‘s head of data journalism, wrote on LinkedIn: “The Pentagon Pizza Index has been a surprisingly reliable predictor of seismic global events—from coups to wars—since the 1980s. On the night of August 1st 1990 for example, the CIA ordered 21 pizzas in a single night just before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (a new record).”
Journalist Wolf Blitzer said on CNN in 1990: “Bottom line for journalists—always monitor the pizzas.”
What Happens Next
Military action between Israel and Iran is expected to continue.
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