For the past 69 years, NORAD has been tracking Santa Claus’ whereabouts around the world on Christmas Eve.
NORAD or the North American Aerospace Defense Command is a U.S. and Canada bi-national organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
It all starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. With 47 installations strung across Canada’s North and Alaska, NORAD makes a point of checking the radar closely for indications of Santa Claus leaving the North Pole.
Satellites have infrared sensors that can see heat. Rudolph’s nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. The satellites detect Rudolph’s bright red nose with no problem.
The last system used to track Jolly Old Saint Nick is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots take off out of Newfoundland and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other fighter pilots escort Santa.
NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command, began tracking Santa purely by accident in 1955 after a child called NORAD, which was Continental at the time. “They answered the call and not to disappoint the child, answered the question of when Santa was going to be there,” says David Kang from NORAD Tracks Santa.
Every year, Kang adds, the program gets better and better and this year is no exception. “We’ve done a tremendous amount on our outreach. We’ve added additional languages, so we have nine total. Korean being new this year,” says Kang. “We’ve got our 1,000 volunteers ready to answer the call Dec. 24. We’re ready to go for Santa to appear.”
There are a few ways to access NORAD Tracks Santa. The first way is to visit online at noradsanta.org. “We’ve added additional platforms. That way you have multiple accesses. We’ve changed the navigation, so it’s easier to navigate. We continue to improve on that.”
Kids can also catch Santa on the fly with mobile apps.
Another way is to call the hotline at 1-877-HI-NORAD or 1-877-466-6723. “That way you can talk to somebody.”
“Though we’ve modified the way we do things, our mission we do on a day-to-day basis at NORAD to defend North America has not changed and that is aerospace warning and control and maritime warning,” Kang explains.
Kang says the tools NORAD uses to track Santa are the same, but the technology has evolved.
For kids, Kang advises young ones to make sure they go to bed by 9 p.m. and before midnight, as that’s historically when Santa appears. “More importantly, check the website. On Dec. 24, starting at 4 a.m., we have the website up and we have our 1,000 volunteers up and running to answer calls.”
Kang notes approximately 400,000 kids contact operations by telephone each year and the website typically gets 20 million hits.
Kang’s advice for kids is to use the website or call the number to get a good idea of when Santa will arrive. “There are no guarantees of what time he’s going to appear. Santa Claus has been doing this a lot longer than NORAD, so it’s just a guess.”
