General Glen Vanherck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command, gives an update on Santa Claus journey on Fox & Friends.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And NORAD has its eyes on him for the 65th straight year.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the NORAD Santa tracker is up and running, as it has been since 1955 when it became an annual tradition.
The tradition began by accident when Air Force Col. Harry Shoup – the commander on duty at NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) – answered a call from a child who rang a telephone number misprinted in a newspaper department store ad trying to get in touch with Santa.
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NORAD is tracking Santa tonight
Peterson Air Force Base, CO – NORAD is tracking Santa’s flight across the world just like it’s predecessor did, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), for more than 50 years.
Back in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement misprinted the telephone number for children to call Santa. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” This began the tradition.
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.
Normally, up to 160 volunteers crowd into a conference room at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Col., taking two-hour shifts to answer the phones as eager children call to see if Santa and his sleigh have reached their rooftops. All together, 1,500 people over 20 hours have participated in the call centre in the past, fielding more than 130,000 phone calls, beginning at 3 a.m. Kamloops time on Christmas Eve. This year, due to safety restrictions forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of volunteers has been drastically cut to what NORAD expects will be fewer than 10 people per shift. So, some callers may be able to once again get through to a member of the military or other volunteer when they dial the NORAD Tracks Santa toll-free number, 1-877-Hi-NORAD. But others will get a recorded update on Santa’s current location.