For
hundreds of years children have always eagerly awaited the arrival of
Santa Clause. They hoped to catch a glimpse of him as he delivers
presents, ask him questions or if they were lucky enough see a flying
reindeer. For the last 59 years NORAD (North America Aerospace
Defense Command) has taken up the mantle of helping the children by
tracking
Santa on his Christmas Eve journey.
“Now
a 59-year tradition, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, will follow Santa Claus’s Christmas Eve
travels using radar, satellites, jet fighters and special cameras,”
said Air Force Master Sgt. Chuck Marsh, spokesman for the NORAD
Tracks Santa program.
The
NORAD tracking starts when the early warning radar array, that
stretches across northern Canada and Alaska, pick up Santa's sleigh
as it takes off from the North Pole. Then, satellites take over as
they pick up on the heat signatures of Rudolf's red nose as he leads
the pack of reindeer pulling the sleigh as it soars on its
round-the-world trek. When the tracking system shows Santa entering
North American airspace Canada launches CF-18 fighters to welcome
Santa and the reindeer to the North American Continent.
"Canadian
NORAD CF-18 fighter pilots will take off from Newfoundland and
welcome Santa and his reindeer to North America, where American NORAD
jet pilots will escort him in with F-15s or 16s," Marsh added,
“At Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Atlanta, a couple of F-16C jets
will be fueled and placed on standby mode to assist in tracking the
thirty-two foot sleigh.”
As
children watch the Santa's journey, at the tracking
website, they can also play games, listen to Christmas music,
watch a movie, visit the gift shop or go to the library where you can
listen to a reading of Virginia's
letter, that back in 1897 asked if there really is a Santa
Clause, and the response she received. Other than just watching the
journey or engaging in the act ivies on the website, children can
also call and ask questions by calling the North American branch of
Santa's staff that takes over NORAD at this time of the year. That
staff can be reached at 1-877-446-6723 or 1-877-HI-NORAD where there
questions can be answered in English, French, Spanish, German,
Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.
The
tradition of NORAD tracking Santa started in 1955 when the Sears &
Roebuck company put out an ad
for children to call Santa. The ad had a misprint that directed those
calls to what was at that time the Continental Air Defense Command
(CONAD) stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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