You Can Tell a Lot About the World Based on Pizza — Just Ask O.J. Simpson or the Pentagon

It was a day like any other, until a slow-speed chase down several Los Angeles freeways ground the city to a halt. On June 17, 1994, O.J. Simpson was supposed to surrender himself to Los Angeles police following the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a waiter named Ron Goldman. Not only did Simpson not show up, but he and a longtime friend took police on a meandering chase through the city with no clear plan in sight.

The spectacle was picked up by news stations all over the country, resulting in people afraid to leave their homes for fear of missing whatever dramatic end was in store. Because no one wanted to move even a muscle, something else strange happened on this day. According to The State Journal-Register, Domino's Pizza had one of its busiest days ever. A somewhat similar test is conducted using the Pentagon Pizza Index (PPI). Let's take a look at its meaning.

You might be asking yourself, what does O.J. Simpson's car chase, the Pentagon, and pizza have in common? The answer is all in the orders. The Pentagon Pizza Index tracks orders that go to the secure facility, which in turn can predict possible moves from the Department of Defense, whose offices are in the Pentagon.

For example, the PPI noted a surge in pizza orders following the June 13, 2025 Israeli military attacks on Iran, per Newsweek. If a person was closely monitoring the PPI, they would see this jump before news of the attack broke. The website itself is broken down by local pizza shops and the geopolitical markets that could be affected by a huge run on pizza. As of this writing, the PPI website is tracking a possible ceasefire from Gaza or Ukraine and EU sanctions on Iran, to name a couple.

While the internet wasn't what it is today back in 1989, people were still paying attention to pizza orders for the Pentagon. In December of that year, when the United States invaded Panama during George H.W. Bush's presidency, pizza orders doubled, per The Guardian. The same thing happened again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

If you're wondering why people are ordering pizza when the Pentagon undoubtedly has its own food options, it's because there are no pizza restaurants there. The closest thing you can get is a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell, but you would run up against the same issue viewers of the Simpson slow-speed chase had. It's obvious that pizza is being ordered so that folks don't have to leave their offices. Some intern is probably tasked with picking them up.

Also if you look at this from a logical standpoint, pizza is one of those dishes that can be altered to fit anyone's tastes. Plus, it's a fast and simple order. Can you imagine trying to order Chinese food or anything else that requires a conversation about delicious sides? You'd be arguing for hours. Pizza really is the best option if you want to get right back to work on figuring out who is bombing who, when.