Welcome to tracking Santa

In the spirit of perpetuating the NORAD Tracks Santa's journey hoax, Santa's flight over earth may be tracked  Christmas Eve in real time. And, for those who want a quick look-back, Santa's 2010 flight is archived. Some of you may think the 2010 flight looks a little fake, but that's just your humbug analysis.  From the webiste:


"All the preparations for this year are in place! Come back each day to discover new surprises in the Kids' Countdown Village, where we'll offer a new holiday game every day until December 24th...

Why we track Santa. For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight. The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa. Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to phone calls and emails from children all around the world. In addition, we now track Santa using the Internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa’s whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website. Finally, media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide updates on Santa’s journey."

Is Santa Claus popular, you bet he is.  Associated Press, 12/23/11, "Santa Claus passes new poll with flying colors".

Posted by Kathy Meeh