Track Santa: Watch NORAD track Santa Claus and his reindeer as they deliver gifts around the world
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) team is all systems go to track Santa Claus as he and his reindeer deliver gifts around the world.
What you can do:
You can follow along online at the NORAD Tracks Santa website and on mobile devices with the NORAD Tracks Santa app available in the Apple App and Google Play stores.
The website, available in nine languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean, includes a holiday countdown, games, movie theater, holiday music, web store, and more.
On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, Santa trackers worldwide can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to check in with live operators about Santa’s location from 4 a.m. to midnight MST. A web-based calling option at noradsanta.org is also available to reach the NORAD Santa tracking team.
History of the NORAD Santa tracker
This year, NORAD is celebrating the tracking program's 70th anniversary of keeping children around the globe informed of Santa’s annual journey.
NORAD started tracking Santa’s whereabouts in 1955 when a young child tried to call Santa 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 said on its website. "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."
An influx of children called the agency in search of Santa, so they assigned a duty officer to answer the calls. The tradition continued when CONAD became NORAD in 1958.
What is NORAD?
NORAD is a United States and Canada bi-national organization that conducts aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America. According to its website, NORAD works to prevent air attacks against North America and responds to unknown, unwanted, and unauthorized air activity.
NORAD monitors all traffic in North American airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
The Source: Information for this article was provided by NORAD's Track Santa website, the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) and previous FOX Television Stations reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.