NORAD will be tracking Santa's Sleigh this Christmas Eve!! links

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[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

December 23, 2004

Tracking Santa 2004

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12.23.04

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image: NORAD

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Children finding it hard to sleep on Christmas Eve can check not only if Santa's on his way but also his ETA, thanks to the air defense specialists at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). This ScienCentral News video has more.

Santa's Flight Path

At the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) high-security stronghold deep inside Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, air defense specialists have tracked Santa Claus's annual around-the-world flight for the past 50 years. They say it's all part of NORAD's mission of protecting North America's security by constantly monitoring the skies for any suspicious aircraft or activity.

"The man is in the air, he's got nine reindeer, he's got this massive sleigh full of toys, he's got incredible speeds and he's going at an unusual pattern around the world," says Major Douglas Martin, Chief of Santa Tracking Operations at NORAD.

It all started 50 years ago, when a Colorado department store put an ad in the paper for a Santa hotline for kids—but the phone number in the ad mistakenly turned out to be the operations hotline for Continental Air Defense, NORAD's predecessor. The military personnel, receiving lots of phone calls for Santa that Christmas eve, quickly realized that while they couldn't speak for Santa, they could check their radar scopes to see if they could spot him heading south from the north pole—and they saw him. Since then it's been an annual tradition. Today, NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa —radar, Santa Cams, jet fighter aircraft, and a network of spy satellites that lock onto the signal from Rudolph's nose.

While all of NORAD's capabilities have grown more sophisticated over the decades, the biggest advance for children has been the deployment of Santa Cams. "The Santa Cam is an omni-directional high-speed digital camera that's able to pick up incredible visuals of Santa as he goes into different countries," says Martin. "That improvement just changed the whole tracking system completely because now kids go on the website and actually see video of Santa…as we're tracking him, as he's going around the world."

image: NORAD

While NORAD has estimated Santa's speed at anywhere from mach 600—which is 600 times the speed of sound, or 300 times faster than NORAD's fighter jet— to nearly the speed of light, he actually slows down enough for NORAD fighters and Santa Cams to see him. That's because Santa has come to rely on NORAD to help parents get their children to bed, otherwise Santa has to backtrack to homes where the kids were still awake on his first pass. "Children get very excited on Christmas Eve, and naturally even when mom and dad say, 'Hey, c'mon kids, it's time to go to bed, Santa's on his way,' sometimes they're just too excited," Martin says. "It's very important [that] someone from NORAD's able to say to the kids…'It's true, he's on his way, he's in this particular state right now, he's in this particular province or this particular country, and my gosh, it's going to be so soon, he's going to be here, right at your own city or town or home, you want to get to bed as soon as possible.'"

Martin says his belief in Santa has wavered through the years, but he's definitely on board now. "I went through a lot of phases and then all of a sudden I'm in my 40s, and my gosh, I'm the chief of Santa tracking operations, I actually track Santa," he says. "And I don't track him alone, I track him with this enormous group of people…we know he's real. Why? Because we see him."

NORAD recently released declassified images it has captured of Santa dating back to the 1950s that reveal just how little he's changed.

To check his progress, kids can call toll-free, 1-877-HI-NORAD, or click here.

This service is supported by NORAD, Analytical Graphics, Inc., American Online, MCI Government Markets, ICG Communications, Globelink Language and Culture Services, 24-7 Web Studio, Akami, and Clear Cube, plus the time and services of hundreds of volunteers.

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by Karen Lurie

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

[econ_grad]

I remember when I was 10, I told my three year old cousin that there is no Santa. He didn't really believe me, saying I was jealous because I wasn't getting anything.

[ScottFromSpokane]

Good. I've never trusted that guy.

[mdittmar]

A Christmas Music link,an example.

[mdittmar]

A Christmas Music link,an example.

[Kolokotronis]

You suppose the ACLU will sue to stop the use of taxpayers' money for this clearly sectarian endeavor? :)

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

This is the 50th season that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs store's advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included a misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States decided to create a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.

The Command carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition from CONAD. Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts. This year, the information is provided in six languages.

NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many people at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to the many thousands of children who calls in.

[G32]

It's amusing that an agency setup to detect and direct launches of ICBM's is used for kid stuff.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

SANTASLEIGH: Tower, SantaSleigh requsting flyby over Blue states?

Tower: Negative that SantaSleigh, pattern is full.

SANTASLEIGH: Copy that tower.

[Kolokotronis]

What a great sory and a great thing to do. I remember the broadcasts in the 50s when my little sisters would listen to the radio for NORAD's reports on Santa's progress!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I thought that this would be neat for kids tomorrow night. They can save the links and track Santa on their home computers.

[Kolokotronis]

Great idea for a very modern generation!

[SamAdams76]

Santa and his reindeer are going to have to circumvent the Northeast. Major winds and heavy precipitation in the area. Otherwise Rudolph the reindeer will surely become a victim of wind shear. I guess Santa will have to use UPS Ground this year to get the presents delivered.

[tortoise]

Awesome! We can test our new missile defense system!

[Reactionary]

Bah. Santa travels at 600 times the speed of sound, don't you know?

That guy's sleigh is a freakin' UFO.

[varon]

Awesome! We can test our new missile defense system!

In which case Santa and his reindeer will be safe because they haven't been able to hit anything yet ;-)

[anymouse]

[ScottFromSpokane]

http://www.jabootu.com/acolytes/brandiweed/santa.htm

[LiteKeeper]

Check it out

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Thinkin' Gal]

You serious, Clark?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Thanks to global warming, in the future Santa's reindeer might have trouble finding enough to eat.

And we know this because the last time the planet was warmer all the reindeer died off and then when the "little ice age" arrived about 1000 AD they spontaneously regenerated from little reindeer seeds.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Heads up for the kiddies!

[the Deejay]

I love that music link.

Especially, the Walter Brennan stories and the Hard And Humble Times category.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Santa Tracker Bump!

[Yaelle]

I just showed my 7-year-old, who's not Christian but still thinks Santa Claus might be real (I don't want him telling his friends anything...), the website where Norad tracks Santa. He saw the stills of Santa captured around the world, and then we watched one of the little videos from a Santa Cam.

Now, he's seen all the still shots of Santa, and in the video Santa is flying by with a reindeer-driven sleigh, which apparently presents no problem, but he takes his little finger and points at the buildings underneath. "Look at those graphics, Mom! They are fake!"

Gotta love it.