It’s Christmas Eve 2024, and as is traditional, NORAD, (The North American Aerospace Defense Command), is once again tracking Santa Claus via their Santa Tracker as he makes his yearly journey around the globe. NORAD has tracked the big guy in the red suit since 1955.
The beloved holiday tradition began all because of a misprinted phone number in a Sears holiday newspaper ad. (Remember Sears?)
NORAD Tracks Santa
The program began on December 24, 1955, when a Sears department store placed an advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper which told children that they could telephone Santa Claus and included a number for them to call. However, the telephone number was misprinted and calls instead came through to Colorado Springs’ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. Colonel Harry Shoup, who was on duty that night, told his staff to give all children who called in a “current location” for Santa Claus. A tradition began which continued when the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) replaced CONAD in 1958.
NORAD began posting Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve on a website back in 1997, and it has become a popular destination among parents and kids who want to track Santa’s journey around the globe.
Visit The Official NORAD Santa Tracker in your Mac, Windows PC, or iOS/iPadOS browser to view Santa’s trip around the world.
