Checking on Santa with Norad has become a tradition at our house! We hope your family enjoys it too, its worth a look…
Finally, its December again! We’ve been looking forward to visiting the ‘Norad Tracks Santa’ website again this year. It tracks Santa’s actual flight path from Christmas eve (on Google Earth or Google maps), around the world!
Its fun to check the site regularly during December too, to receive updates from the North Pole and to discover new surprises in the Kids’ Countdown Village.
What is NORAD?
NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command. It is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight.
Why do they track Santa?
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.
Seasons Greetings!
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