In 1955 a Sears Roebuck & Co. ad for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching the North Pole, the phone number put kids through to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). Luckily, the Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup had a lot of Christmas spirit. He had his staff give the kids who called in updates on Santa’s location, and a tradition was born. A few years later, the US joined forces with Canada to create a North American air defense command and CONAD became NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).
More than 50 years later, with the NORAD Santa Tracker, kids can get a countdown to Christmas, play games, see exactly where Santa is on a Google map, get updates on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube, and track Santa on a mobile phone:
According to NORAD, they can track Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means they can’t predict where and when he will arrive at your house. But they warn, “We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep! In most countries, it seems Santa arrives between 9 pm and midnight on December 24th. If children are still awake when Santa arrives, he moves on to other houses. He returns later…but only when the children are asleep!”
Here’s hoping Santa brings your kiddies everything on their list. Merry Christmas!