NORAD set to track Santa Christmas Eve

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s Major-General Christopher Coates listens intently to a caller during the 2016 NORAD Tracks Santa Event at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. Major-General Coates is director of NORAD Operations at NORAD’s bi-national headquarters at Peterson AFB. Photo by Dennis Carlyle, NORAD

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is celebrating the 62nd anniversary of tracking Santa’s yuletide journey.

The NORAD Tracks Santa website, www.noradsanta.org, has launched. It features Santa’s North Pole Village, which includes a holiday countdown, games, activities, and more. The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.

Official NORAD Tracks Santa apps are also available in the Apple and Google Play stores, so parents and children can count down the days until Santa’s launch on their smart phones and tablets! Tracking opportunities are also offered through social media on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Starting at 2:01 a.m. EST on Dec. 24, website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight. NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will stream videos on the website as Santa makes his way over various locations. Then, at 6 a.m. EST, trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire as to Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com.

Any time on Dec. 24, Amazon Alexa users can ask for Santa’s location through the NORAD Tracks Santa skill for Amazon Alexa, and OnStar subscribers can press the OnStar button in their vehicles to locate Santa. Bing and Cortana users can also find Santa’s location on Dec. 24.

NORAD Tracks Santa is truly a global experience, delighting generations of families everywhere. This is due, in large part, to the efforts and services of numerous program contributors.

It all started in 1955 when a local media advertisement directed children to call Santa direct – only the number was misprinted. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone rang through to the Crew Commander on duty at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center. Thus began the tradition, which NORAD has carried on since it was created in 1958.