NORAD Tracks Santa Claus as He Delivers Joy to Children Worldwide on Christmas Eve

This image provided by NORAD shows NORAD's Santa Tracker. The U.S. military agency known f
NORAD via AP
Ethan Letkeman

The North America Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is tracking Santa Claus as he delivers gifts to children around the world on Christmas Eve.

It is the 67th year in a row the joint military command, of the U.S. and Canada, that protects North American air space has used its radar technology to track Father Christmas.

Saint Nick and his nine reindeer began their journey at around 4:00 a.m. Eastern on Christmas Eve, as they flew to Russia’s Far East and the Pacific Islands west of the international date line, according to the tracker.

So far, stops have been made in Australia, far east Asia, central Asia, India, and several other locations. As of 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Santa is flying over Saudi Arabia before he makes his way to Europe and then, eventually, North America.

Hawaii will be Santa’s final destination before his return trip to the North Pole.

The tradition of tracking Santa started in 1955 when a young child who was trying to call Santa dialed a misprinted phone number from a department store ad in the local newspaper and instead accidentally called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs.

The commander on duty that night realized the child’s mistake and started to pretend he was Santa, beginning a tradition that continued when NORAD was established in 1958.

Several million internet users from over 200 countries visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website every year to get real-time updates on where Santa is currently traveling.

Furthermore, volunteers answer approximately 130,000 calls from children around the world on the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline.

U.S. presidents have also volunteered to take calls to help children track Santa, which has recently provided some memorable moments.

In 2021, President Joe Biden was fooled by the father of a child who called in to track Santa.

Breitbart News reported on the exchange at the time:

“Merry Christmas, and let’s go, Brandon!” the father named “Jared” said, referring to the popular conservative phrase to signal dissatisfaction with the president after Biden spoke with his kids on the phone.

“Let’s go, Brandon, I agree,” Biden replied.

In 2018, then-president Donald Trump took a call from a seven-year-old girl and asked her if she was a “believer in Santa” before humorously saying, “Because at seven it’s marginal, right?”

For those wishing to track Santa, you can visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website or on one of NORAD’s social media platforms, such as Facebook or Youtube. You can also call the NORAD Santa Tracker Hotline at 1-877-446-6723.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.

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