Where’s Santa? Here’s how to track his journey this Christmas Eve
Where’s Santa? Here’s how to track his journey this Christmas Eve
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NORAD’s Santa Tracker website launched this year on December 1. There’s nothing more exciting on Christmas Eve than being able to see exactly where Santa Claus and his reindeer are on their one-night journey as he delivers presents across the globe.
The tradition began in 1955, when a child mistakenly rang a Colorado military command asking to speak to Father Christmas after a local newspaper ran an advert by a department store containing a misprinted phone number. Fortunately, Air Force Commander Harry Shoup who was manning the phones that Christmas Eve quickly realized the mistake and assured children that he was indeed Santa Claus.
As more calls came in that night, Commander Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering the phone, birthing a tradition that passed over to NORAD when it was formed in 1958. The organization has enlisted volunteers over the years to specifically manage the phone calls coming in on Christmas Eve.
Families can also download NORAD’s Santa Tracker app on both the Apple app store and Google Play store. Those who are interested in calling NORAD can use the phone number 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) on December 24 from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Christmas Day ET.
According to Norad, the “only logical conclusion” as to how Santa is able to traverse the globe in one night is that he “somehow functions within his own time-space continuum.”. “NORAD intelligence reports indicate that Santa does not experience time the way we do. His trip seems to take 24 hours to us, but to Santa, it might last days, weeks, or even months,” the agency stated.
