NORAD: How to track Santa Claus' ride on Christmas Eve
NORAD tracks Santa's flight around the world
Where is Santa Claus? The North American Aerospace Defend Command (NORAD) is tracking St. Nick's global trip from Christmas Eve until Christmas Day. FOX 5 spoke with General Glen D. VanHerck from the North American Aerospace Defense Command to learn what goes into the operation.
WASHINGTON - Where is Santa Claus? The North American Aerospace Defend Command (NORAD) is tracking St. Nick's global trip from Christmas Eve until Christmas Day.
You can start tracking Santa at noradsanta.org at 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve. NORAD also has a call center with 1500 volunteers standing by to answer your call and tell you where Santa is. That number is 1-877-HINORAD.
NORAD reportedly started tracking Santa in 1955 when a young child tried to call him after seeing a misprinted department store ad from a local newspaper.
"Instead of calling Santa, the child called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo." NORAD wrote in a NORAD Tracks Santa summary on its Defense Media Activity website.
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"Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night who answered the child’s phone call, was quick to realize a mistake had been made and assured the child he was Santa," NORAD continued.
The story goes that a duty officer was assigned to answer all the children's calls in search of Santa, and the tradition has continued to today.