Credit: Audra Flanagan/U.S. Air National Guard
Children in the Levittown area and millions of families across the globe will be able to track Santa’s epic Christmas Eve voyage from their warmth of their homes.
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For the 67th year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint mission of the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force to safeguard the airspace, will track Santa Claus’ Christmas Eve flight. The public will be able to receive updates during the mission.
The NORAD Tracks Santa website, www.noradsanta.org, is now up and running, and it includes Santa’s North Pole Village, a holiday countdown, games, a movie theater, Christmas music, a webstore, and the live Santa tracker. The U.S. Department of Defense said the website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese.
In addition to the website, children and parents can contact the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to inquire about Santa’s location. They will either speak to a real phone operator or hear a recorded update, officials said.
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The official NORAD Tracks Santa app is also available in the Apple App and Google Play stores, allowing parents and children to count down before Santa arrives on their smartphones and tablets.
Santa tracking by the military has been a practice since 1955 when a local newspaper advertisement notified children that they may call Santa personally, but the phone 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, the precursor to NORAD. U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the crew commander, quickly recognized the error and informed the child that he was Santa. Shoup then delegated call-taking duties to a duty officer.
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Over the decades, the holiday tradition was developed, which NORAD has continued since its inception in 1958. NORAD has reported Santa’s whereabouts on December 24 to millions of children and families across the world every year since.
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