NORAD continues to track Santa on December 24, thrilling decades of youngsters

Every December, millions of families around the world track Santa's Yuletide journey through the North American Aerospace Defense Command's Santa Tracker. "NORAD Tracks Santa" is a holiday tradition that started from humble origins — and as a fluke — but has now grown into a massive volunteer operation.

Log onto https://www.noradsanta.org/en/ and track Santa on December 24. On that interactive website, one can "chat with radar," play games, order signature clothing, listen to Christmas music, and more. The little ones can even call in to track the jolly one.

Since the 1950s, NORAD has helped the public track Santa. Like many origin stories, NORAD’s mission to track Santa began by accident. In 1955 a young child, trying to reach Santa, dialed the misprinted phone number from a department store ad in the local newspaper. Instead of calling Santa, the child called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night who answered the child’s phone call, was quick to realize a mistake had been made and assured the child he was Santa. After more incoming calls, Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering calls, and a tradition was born, that continued when NORAD was formed in 1958.

Each year since NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families across the world. Because of the support, services, and resources generously provided by volunteers and our government and corporate contributors, NORAD Tracks Santa has persevered for more than 65 years.