Santa Tracking by NORAD can trace its origins to a misprint in a 1955 Sears advertisement that ran in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Santa Claus may keep an eye on boys and girls throughout the year, even when they are sleeping, but the crew over at NORAD who start tracking Santa’s movements every year at midnight Christmas Eve, are looking right back at the big man every holiday season.
As soon as Santa’s sleigh rides off into the sky at the North Pole laden with gifts and carried by nine creatively named reindeer, NORAD’s satellites flip into high gear in an effort to keep up with Santa’s magically powered sleigh as it rockets across the globe.
The NORAD holiday program starts each year on December 1, however, tracking Santa doesn’t officially start until midnight on December 24.
The story of how NORAD began following Santa’s movements to the delight of children [admit it, and adults too!] world-wide every year is rooted in what proved to be a happy mistake.
Back in 1955, a Sears advertisement ran in the Colorado Springs Gazette. The sales blurb encouraged children to give Santa a ring and published a corresponding telephone number. As luck would have it, an unfortunate misprint occurred, as sometimes does in journalism because to err is human, and instead of reaching Santa, children were reaching the good folks working at the Continental Air Defense Command [CONAD]; specifically, one Colonel Harry Shoup.
One young girl’s call for Santa was answered by the gruff Colonel who at first believed the call to be someone’s idea of a Christmas prank. After speaking with the child further, and then her mother, Shoup realized the girl was serious. Learning of the advertisement, and being as it was Christmas, Shoup began giving the young girl updates on Santa’s movements. Enjoying the interaction so much, Shoup encouraged his staff to start publicizing the updates, which allowed other good little boys and girls to follow along with Shoup’s mysterious young caller on Santa’s whereabouts.
For anyone who may be understandably confused, CONAD transitioned into the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD a few years later in 1958.
Ever since the misprint, NORAD has continued to provide children across the globe annually with updates on Santa’s movements, because yes, the government has been keeping its own eyes on Santa for at least the last seventy years!
Shoup, however, had not intended to repeat the updates the following year in 1956. But unfortunately for him, the pesky media showed up in the form of the Associated Press and United Press International, demanding to know the whereabouts of Santa for an anxious public. Bowing to pressure, Shoup agreed to the updates again being publicized, and a tradition was born!
In 1956, NORAD released the following update: “CONAD, Army, Navy, and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas.”
As technology has improved, so has the government’s ability to keep up with Santa’s super-fast, time-traveling sleigh.
These days it isn’t just eyes in the sky tracking Old Saint Nicolas, NORAD uses the best state-of-the-art equipment the American military can dream up; radar, satellites, and even fighter jets are deployed for up-to-the-minute Santa coverage.
Growing over the years, families often gather for Santa watch parties and the NORAD program itself offers holiday songs and Christmas fun facts to keep its young viewers engaged as they wait for Santa to draw ever closer to their own neighborhoods. NORAD’s holiday program even informs users of how many gifts Santa pulls out of his jolly red sack and leaves underneath individual family Christmas trees.
Keeping up with the times, NORAD also offers a mobile tracking device for families on the go. Now a beloved holiday tradition, the program has inspired the creation of similar initiatives like Google Santa Tracker, which was released by the company in 2004.
NORAD relies on its annual volunteers to keep tracking Santa year after year.
According to NORAD’s public data, each volunteer fields roughly 40 calls an hour, upwards of 12,000 emails, and well over 70,000 calls from hundreds of countries and territories across the world. Volunteers report most of these interactions occur between the hours of 4 a.m. on December 24th and 5 a.m. EST on December 25.
This year NORAD says its Santa Operations Center will be fully online starting December 24 at 4 a.m. Children can also call 877-446-6723 to talk directly to a Santa Tracker volunteer and receive live updates at that time.