According to the Global Times, U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth confirmed his awareness of the so-called "Pentagon Pizza Index" during an interview at the U.S. Navy's 250th-anniversary celebration on Oct. 5 (local time). This marks the first public acknowledgment by a U.S. Defense Secretary of the long-standing public speculation surrounding this informal metric.
The "Pentagon Pizza Index" is monitored by platforms like Pizzint, which tracks pizza orders near the Pentagon. The concept gained traction online due to the common American practice of ordering pizza during overtime work. By analyzing order volumes from pizzerias around the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, the index attempts to predict potential military activities based on inferred overtime patterns, attracting significant public curiosity.
When asked about the index by a Fox News reporter on Oct. 5, Hegseth remarked, "I am aware of that index," adding lightheartedly, "I have thought about ordering a whole bunch of pizzas on some random evening just to confuse everyone."
The origins of the "Pizza Index" date back to 1990. A Domino's Pizza franchise manager in Washington, D.C., told the Los Angeles Times that on August 1 of that year, they noticed a sudden surge in pizza deliveries to the Pentagon, CIA, and White House. The following day, the Gulf War began, providing the initial inspiration for the theory.
However, in June this year, the U.S. Department of Defense dismissed the accuracy of the index. A Pentagon spokesperson emphasized that their cafeterias work with numerous suppliers to meet staff needs during night shifts and noted that accounts publishing such data often provide incorrect timelines.
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