NORAD Santa Tracker 2006
We first found this a couple of years ago and we all think it's quite wonderful.
NORAD - yes, the North American Air Defense Command, the people who watch the skies for the missiles have a website dedicated to tracking Santa.
From the website:
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa.
The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently 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 created a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command, known as NORAD.
NORAD 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.
I have no idea whether this is true or just a nice story, but all I know is that Molly (and Louise and I) have great fun checking the website throughout the day.
Merry Christmas, keep watching the skies.....
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