Online sleuths are claiming that an Iranian attack on Israel is imminent, due to a spike in pizza delivery orders near the Pentagon and eerily empty pubs and restaurants in Washington D.C.

The “pizza-meter” theory is predicated upon the belief that in times of high tension, especially when military confrontation is expected to occur in the near future, Pentagon personnel often order large amounts of pizza to their offices.

Frank Meeks, the owner of dozens of Domino’s Pizza franchise in the Washington D.C. area, is credited with bringing the “pizza-meter” theory to public prominence. Just before the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Meeks told local media that he received an unusually large orders of pizzas for delivery to the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, and the headquarters of the CIA.

As Israel girds for an expected retaliation by Iran and its proxies for the assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Pentagon employees appear to be working overtime.

“Pizza-meter is off the charts and the ‘bars’ in DC are empty near the Pentagon,” wrote former New York State legislator Ben Geller on social media platform X. “Brace yourselves.”

Geller posted screenshots which indicated that local pizza restaurants in the Washington D.C. area were swamped with orders, while popular haunts for Pentagon and other government employees were unusually deserted at peak hours on Friday and Saturday evening.

He explained why orders of pizza, and not other food options, are the most likely indication of down-to-the wire, high-stakes work by Pentagon employees.

Geller noted that a pizzeria “is the closest restaurant of any kind outside the walls of The Pentagon,” adding that “pizza is widely liked by all; it’s fast, cheap, and can feed many people.”

He added that “according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, people need sustenance and are social creatures of habit,” Geller added.

“Monitoring human behavior and patterns is more insightful than any classified briefing.”

In recent days, the U.S. has moved several warships to the region, along with ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday.