Norad Tracks Santa

Header from the Official NORAD tracks Santa website.

No matter what country you are reading in, you are able to join in on one of our family traditions– tracking Santa with NORAD. We discovered NORAD a few years back when my older daughter was asking questions about Santa. While we are a Christian family that fully recognizes the true reason for the season, we also have fun with the tradition of Santa Clause.

So who is NORAD anyway?

The shortest answer is that NORAD is  joint military venture between the United State and Canada that tracks the Air Space around our country.

So what does that do with Christmas and Santa?

I had fun the first year reading the history on NORAD’s website, but I know that I cannot do it justice retelling the story; so, I am quoting it from NORAD’s website (linked above).

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 for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. 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.

Finally, media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide updates on Santa’s journey.

The NORAD website is a neat place to virtually visit. Not only can kids play games on the website, but it also has resources that tell about the technology used to track Santa as well as a question and answer section. The website is a great place to explore with a child who is on the verge of not believing in Santa, but still wants to keep the magic alive for at least one more year.

Don’t forget the main event- TRACKING SANTA! Starting in a little over 5 hours from when I am writing this, NORAD will begin tracking Santa as he makes his trek to deliver gifts to children around the world. Check the website throughout Christmas Eve to see where Santa has been and if NORAD was able to capture him on any of their video feeds. The website is especially a great tool for coaxing excited children to bed…my older daughter is the queen of, “I’m too excited to sleep,” but the NORAD site has always been great for showing that Santa is getting closer and she needs to be asleep before he arrives.

For those who are up on their social networking, you can also receive updates this year through Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you NORAD for creating great memories for our children! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!