For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight.
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & 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, NORAD now tracks Santa using the Internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa's whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website.
The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center is fully operational beginning at 3:00a.m. MST on Dec. 24th. You can call 1 877 HI-NORAD (1 877 446-6723) to talk directly to a NORAD staff member who will be able to tell you Santa’s exact location. Operators are available until 3:00a.m. on Dec. 25th to answer your calls!
On Dec. 24th, you can send an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com A NORAD staff member will give you Santa’s last known location in a return email. You can also track Santa on your mobile phone, through the official Windows 8 app, and you can even chat live with a NORAD operator to find out Santa’s location!
More than 1,250 Canadian and American uniformed personnel and DOD civilians volunteer their time on Dec. 24th to answer the thousands of phone calls and emails that flood in from around the world. In addition to the support provided by our corporate contributors to make this program possible, NORAD has two lead project officers who manage the program.
The NORAD Tracks Santa program is made possible by volunteers and through the generous support of corporate licensees who bear virtually all of the costs.
Source: NORAD