Tuesday, December 23, 2014

NORAD tracks Santa's global trek

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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