By Trevor Hughes, USAToday, SouthFloridaReporter.com, Dec. 24, 2015 – DENVER — While Santa just knows whether you’ve been naughty or nice, the men and women of NORAD and Google will employ cutting edge technology to see exactly where the big guy is on Christmas Eve, and they’ll help you track his flight as he makes his around-the-world deliveries.
The military’s North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, at Peterson Air Force Base, launched its 60th year of tracking Santa’s Yuletide adventure. Volunteers at the military command will also answer questions and provide real-time updates on Santa’s progress from callers around the world.
Google also offers a Santa Tracker service, using its Google Maps, to show the jolly old elf’s progress around the world.
This is the official NORAD Santa tracker. Click the picture to track Santa.
This is the Google Santa tracker. Click the picture to track Santa.
Both services go live Thursday to track Santa’s progress, because, obviously, he and the reindeer will be working through the night to deliver presents to the boys and girls of the world.
Google’s service on Wednesday offered a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes preparations for Santa’s flight, along with Christmas traditions around the world. Visitors to the site may learn about Iceland’s Christmas Cat or how residents of New Zealand, where it’s summer, celebrate Christmas with barbecues.
NORAD, which also runs the North American air and space defense monitoring systems, began its website countdown Wednesday from Santa’s North Pole Village. The website also offers includes holiday games and activities.The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.
The Santa tracking tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement misprinted the telephone number for children to call Santa. Instead of Santa, children reached the commander-in-chief’s hotline at CONAD, the U.S. Continental Air Defense Command. Col. Harry Shoup, the director of operations, instructed his staff to check the radar for signs of Santa traveling south from the North Pole and give the children updates. The practice continued and was taken over in 1958 by NORAD, the bi-national air defense command for North America, run by the governments of Canada and the United States.
Starting at 12:01 a.m. MST (2:01 a.m. EST) Thursday, website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight. NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will stream videos on the website as Santa makes his way over various locations. Then, at 4 a.m. MST (6 a.m. EST), trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire as to Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com.
If you don’t want to sit in front of a computer, NORAD also has apps for iOS, Android and Windows.
If you have an Android device, you can track Santa’s path on the official Google app, which is also compatible with Chromecast for users who want to view the tracker from their TVs.
http://www.noradsanta.org/
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