365 days a year, 24 hours a day, the service members and civilian employees at the North American Aerospace Defense Command—more commonly known as NORAD—provide aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada and the continental United States.
It is serious work, but one day each year, NORAD does something almost magical. It tracks Santa Claus as he travels the globe to deliver presents to boys and girls.
It Began Because of a Typo!
In what almost sounds like the plot of a Hallmark Christmas movie, NORAD’s tracking of Santa Claus actually began as a very real fluke on Christmas Eve 1955, when the then Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado received a call from a child asking about Santa’s whereabouts.
United States Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, who was working the evening shift, took the phone call from a boy who had followed the directions in a local department store’s newspaper advertisement that told children how to call Santa — except the number had been printed incorrectly, and instead was for the operations center.
Rather than being a Scrooge, Shoup and his team responded to that first child, as well as the many others who called on that first Christmas Eve.
Santa was on the way they said. In the process, it kicked off a new holiday tradition.
The role of tracking Santa continued when NORAD was formed in 1958, and it’s been getting more popular and more technologically savvy ever since. In addition to calling in, children of all ages can now use social media and mobile apps to follow St. Nick as he makes his way around the globe.
What began as a simple misunderstanding has turned into a full-blown operation.
Currently, more than 1,500 Canadian and American uniformed personnel, Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees, and others help each season, while volunteers and donations from numerous companies cover virtually all of the costs of running the program.
Long Flight For Santa – But He is Tracked the Whole Time
According to the DoD, as Santa flies around the world, satellites track his position by detecting Rudolph’s glowing red nose, which gives off an infrared signature similar to that of a missile. NORAD also tracks Santa by using U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, F-22, and Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets.
On Christmas Eve, NORAD fighter pilots rendezvous with Santa off the coast of Newfoundland to welcome him to North America. They then escort him safely through North American airspace until he returns to the North Pole, with a job well done.
Santa has also gotten more high-tech in recent years.
“I suspect, with fewer chimneys large enough to accommodate a rotund, jolly person, Santa is probably learning to take advantage of drone technology,” suggested John Adams-Graf, military vehicles historian and editor of History in Motion, the official newsletter of the Military Vehicle Preservation Society (MVPS).
The call center opened at 6 a.m. EST on Dec. 24. Kids can call 1-877-Hi-NORAD (446-6723) to find out where Santa is or visit the website, mobile app, or social media to track Santa on his annual magical flight around the world.
