"Orders" Flooded In at 2 A.M.... Did the Pizza Shop Know About Maduro's Arrest?

Pizza Orders Surge Near Pentagon Just Before U.S. Military Operation in Venezuela
'Pizza Index' Draws Attention

It has been observed that pizza orders at the U.S. Department of Defense (the Pentagon) surged just before the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.

An AI-generated image of a pizza delivery person.

On January 3 (local time), the "Pentagon Pizza Report (PPR)," a social media account that tracks food delivery trends near the Pentagon headquarters in Washington, D.C., reported that orders from a particular pizza shop increased abnormally about an hour before the military operation in Venezuela. This account is reportedly operated by an anonymous software engineer.

PPR monitors nighttime pizza deliveries at shops around the Pentagon. According to the account, at around 2 a.m. that day, orders at a nearby shop called "Pizzato Pizza" surged, then dropped sharply about an hour and a half later.

This timing coincides with the U.S. military's operation in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. At approximately 1 a.m. Eastern Time, the United States deployed a large force to the Presidential Safe House in Caracas and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

The U.S. Department of Defense, known as the "Pentagon." Photo by AP Yonhap News

"Pizza Orders Surge During War and Crisis" - The 'Unofficial Indicator' Pizza Index

With pizza orders spiking just before the U.S. airstrikes on Venezuela, the so-called "Pizza Index"-the phenomenon of increased pizza orders near major U.S. security agencies during emergencies such as war-is once again drawing attention. The Pizza Index is based on the hypothesis that, before major operations, personnel at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies begin overnight work, leading to a rise in food delivery orders nearby. Since there are no pizza shops inside the Department of Defense building, employees must order from outside, and as crises such as war intensify and working hours lengthen, pizza orders increase, making this an unofficial indicator of political and military tension.

During the Gulf War in 1991, a surge in pizza deliveries was observed throughout the Washington, D.C. area just before the war began. Similar patterns have recently been detected during periods of heightened tension in the Middle East.

The first person to mention the Pizza Index was Frank Meeks, who operated 60 Domino's Pizza stores in the Washington, D.C. area in 1991. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times at the time, he said, "By 2 a.m., the media is asleep, but the delivery drivers are still out on the streets," adding, "On the night before Iraq invaded Kuwait, more than 20 pizzas were delivered to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)."