Kids in Michigan can join others around the world today in following Santa’s journey to deliver toys to good boys and girls. NORAD Tracks Santa, now in its 60th year, provides up-to-the-minute details of Santa’s whereabouts online and over the phone. Lieutenant Marco Chouinard of the NORAD Tracks Santa Team explains Santa begins his voyage in New Zealand, making stops in Asia, Europe and Africa before crossing the Atlantic and visiting homes in the United States. And he says they use the latest satellites and radar to keep an eye on the big guy.
“We’ve been tracking Santa with the same technology we keep the skies safe in North America so it’s all the same technology and we’re happy to use that to assist Santa in his big trip,” says Chouinard.
This is the 60th year that NORAD and Canadian officials have tracked Santa’s journey. Chouinard explains the program began in 1955 in Colorado, when a misprint in a newspaper advertisement directed kids trying to call Santa to a number at the Continental Air Defense Command.
“The phone started ringing over there and Colonel Harry Shoup was on call that night and so they started answering the call and then he indicated, you know, to all his operators to track Santa on the radars and tell all the kids that were calling where Santa was.”
When the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, was created years later, it continued the tradition. Of course, technology has since improved, and kids who want to know Santa’s whereabouts can check online at www.noradsanta.org. You can also get updates from Facebook, Skype and Onstar; or call NORAD at 1-877-Hi-NORAD.
