
It’s back! In what has become an annual ritual for millions on Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is tracking Santa Claus’s journey from the North Pole to deliver gifts to children across the globe.
NORAD’s Santa Claus tracker website — NORADSanta.org — includes a map that allows users to track Santa’s location in real time. The site attracts tens of millions of visitors every year.
Beginning at midnight on Christmas Eve, the site utilizes satellite mapping technology and digital animation to simulate the route of Santa’s reindeer and sleigh.
The tracker also features a live count of gifts delivered by Jolly Old St. Nick. At the time of this publication, that figure was more than 1.3 billion.
NORAD’s history of tracking Santa
The practice began in 1955 when a child accidentally called the unlisted number of what was then the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center, asking for Santa Claus.
Not wanting to disappoint the young caller, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the command center’s director of operations, “instructed his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole,” according to NORAD. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families.
The binational military organization, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., eventually enlisted volunteers to answer a dedicated phone line to give updates on Santa’s whereabouts. In recent years, those volunteers have included pop stars, presidents and first ladies.
And the hotline still exists: You can call 877-HI-NORAD (877-446-6723) to reach one of the call center’s operators. (President Trump is scheduled to field NORAD Santa calls from Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday afternoon.) Last Christmas Eve, it logged more than 300,000 calls.
Just don’t ask when Santa will arrive at your house.
“NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house,” the organization explains on its FAQ page. “We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep!”
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Timex Gives Its Classic Affordable Field Watch a Tactical, Milspec Makeover - 2
Roche breast cancer pill cuts risk of disease recurrence by 30% in trial - 3
Airbnb Unveils Airport Pickup Service Across 125 Cities in Global Expansion - 4
Broken toilet, T-shirts on windows and collecting saliva: The weirdness of daily life aboard Orion - 5
Israel Police decry online defamation campaign against female officer in Jerusalem
Living Abroad: Social Inundation and Self-improvement
'No Kings' protests live updates: More than 8 million turned out across all 50 states, organizers say
74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen
Netanyahu expects Iran's leadership to fall
Step by step instructions to Think about Disc Rates Across Various Banks
Most loved Caf\u00e9 Chain: Where Do You Get Your Caffeine Fix
Gulf countries roll out more autonomous taxis
Find the Techniques for Powerful Review Propensities: Opening Your Scholarly Potential
Humpback whale stranded on Germany's Baltic coast frees itself












