NORAD Celebrates 70 Years of Tracking Santa Claus and Spreading Holiday Cheer

For generations, on Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has transformed military operations into seasonal magic, and this year marks a major milestone in bringing holiday cheer to children around the globe.

NORAD is celebrating 70 years of tracking Santa Claus on its radar, a tradition that began back in 1955, and shows no signs of slowing down.

From its headquarters in Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over 1,000 American and Canadian uniformed personnel, War Department employees, and volunteers come together to track St. Nick and take calls from eager children on the NORAD hotline.

Starting at 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve, and continuing to midnight Mountain Standard Time, participants accept calls through 1-877-HI-NORAD and for the first time this year, directly on NORAD’s website.

There, visitors will also find an interactive map that tracks Santa’s whereabouts in real-time with NORAD’s “North Warning” radar system.

Through 49 installations strung across Canada’s North and Alaska, the radar indicates when Santa has left the North Pole and follows his journey around the world.

“NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house,” a senior NORAD official said.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump joined in on the holiday spirit, fielding calls themselves from children on the Santa tracker hotline from their Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Their conversations with the children ranged from holiday-related questions to wish lists, and their hopes for Christmas this year.

“You must be a high-IQ person,” President Trump told one child who asked for an Amazon Kindle this year. “Santa loves you. Santa loves Oklahoma like I do. You know, Oklahoma was very good to me in the election,” he told two other children calling in from the state.

Last year, over 300,000 calls came in to NORAD’s headquarters. Its website features a virtual North Pole Village with music and an arcade, gift shop, theater, holiday countdown, and library in nine different languages.

The tradition originated during the Cold War era, after a department store advertisement mistakenly printed the wrong telephone number for children to call Santa Claus.

A young boy ended up reaching the “Continental Air Defense Command,” which is now NORAD, and asked to speak with Kris Kringle while reciting his wish list.

Col. Harry Shoup, an officer on duty, decided to play into the mistaken phone call and reassured the child he would keep a lookout for Santa’s whereabouts through their radar system. From that moment on, numerous callers followed each day, and a new tradition was born.