NORAD to track Santa’s movements for 60th year

Volunteers design and build unique, 3-D tracking software so that children can follow the progress of Santa Claus as he speeds around the globe bringing gifts to all good little girls and boys.

How Did NORAD Get Involved with Tracking Santa? The misdirected call was the result of the child reversing two numbers of a Santa Line phone number printed in a Sears advertisement, according to the ABC News. – For the sixth consecutive year and marking the 60th Anniversary of NORAD tracks Santa, First Lady Michelle Obama took time from her holiday schedule to deliver cheer to children across America by personally answering phone calls on Santa’s journey as part of the annual NORAD Tracks Santa program run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command. – Hundreds of volunteers are tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve flight around the world and relaying his status to kids excited for a visit from St. Nick.

Instead of telling the kids that they dialed the wrong number, Shoup said that he wasn’t Santa Claus but he could track him on radar.

In 1955, as calls started piling in, the officers on duty obliged and gave updates about Santa’s whereabouts.

Patty and her husband, Bryan, who is retired from the Air Force, have been volunteering at NORAD each Christmas Eve for five years, fielding calls from children from all over the world eager to hear about Santa’s progress.

Last year, NORAD took more than 134,000 calls over 23 hours.

The original call center was set up by AT&T (T, Tech30), which had already served as NORAD’s telecommunications provider.

“Technology is always changing”, Nawrocki said. “Of course, it’s more sophisticated tech today than it was 60 years ago”. At 6 a.m. ET, trackers will be able to speak live with phone operators regarding Santa’s location by calling toll-free 1-877-446-6723.

Santa will be on the go until he makes his final stop at Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean early Christmas Day.