NEWS RELEASE
NATIONAL DEFENCE / CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955 when a young child dialed the misprinted phone number from a department store advertisement in the local newspaper. That phone number rang into the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center, NORAD’s predecessor, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. United States Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night, was quick to realize a mistake had been made, and assured the child he was Santa. He then assigned a duty officer to continue answering calls.
The countdown to December 24th has begun! As the big night approaches, the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) is happy to announce that we will be monitoring and escorting Santa as he completes his journey through Canadian airspace once again! The news was released earlier via a short video on social media.
The defence of Canada and the United States is NORAD’s top priority. NORAD is a bi-national American and Canadian command charged with aerospace and maritime warning and aerospace control of North America. However, every year during the holidays, NORAD assumes the supplementary mission of tracking Santa as he travels safely around the world.
Stay tuned because on Christmas Eve, a second video will be released as Santa enters the Canadian air space. Children from across the world will be able to watch and to see NORAD CF-18s joining up with Santa and his sleigh.
The NORAD Tracks Santa website (www.noradsanta.org) is now live. Featuring Santa’s North Pole Village, the website includes a holiday countdown, games, activities, information regarding NORAD’s mission of defending North America, and more. The website supports, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese Spanish and Chinese languages. Tracking opportunities are also offered through social media on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
You can call 1 (877) HI-NORAD (1 (877) 446-6723) for information on Santa’s location. Callers who are unable to speak to a volunteer will receive regularly updated, recorded information on Santa’s location.
