The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Google's Santa Tracker will help you follow Father Christmas on his 2015 journey on Christmas Eve! NORAD launched its 60th year of tracking Santa's Yuletide adventure where volunteers at the military command are set to answer inquiries and will give you real-time updates on Santa's journey.
Here are quick facts about NORAD:
NORAD usually focuses on defending US airspace but every year it helps children track Santa Claus’ journey.
NORAD started tracking Santa by accident. In 1955, an advert listed the phone number of CONAD - NORAD’s predecessor - by mistake.
US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations for CONAD, took the call from a child and pretended to be Father Christmas.
The NORAD Santa tracking website is expecting more than 22 million unique visitors this year. 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.
Want to track Santa? Google offers a Santa Tracker service, using its Google Maps, to show the jolly old elf’s progress around the world. You may download NORAD apps for iOS, Android and Windows.