The tradition continues: follow Santa's journey on Christmas Eve with NORAD
Submitted by Danielle Cook on Tue, 12/23/2014 - 5:32am
Event Date:
December 24, 2014 (All day)
According to the Official NORAD Santa Tracking website, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight for nearly 60 years. Come Christmas Eve, you follow his journey on this page, just below the break.
"The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck and Co. advertisement misprinted the telephone number for children to call Santa. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa."
"Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to phone calls and emails from children all around the world. In addition, we now track Santa using the internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa's whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa® website."
You can also track Santa from your phone with an app available through Google Play Store, Windows Phone, or the App Store for Apple.
