NORAD Tracks Santa

This advertisement's typo began the tradition of NORAD's Santa tracking initiative. The added '1' at the end of the telephone number led callers to the Continental Air Defense Command.

The origins of NORAD tracking Santa Claus dates back to 1955, when a Sears advertisement mistakenly listed a typo for a Sears Santa wish-list telephone number that turned out to be the emergency 'red line' for the Continental Air Defense Command (which later became the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD). U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup and his men began fielding waves of calls from young children across the U.S. wishing to speak to Santa, and the servicemen would tell the children where they were 'tracking' Santa on their radar.

The US and Canadian military now collaborate in monitoring Santa's flight via radar on a yearly basis.

Decades later, the tradition continues as a full orchestration involving GPS live-map tracking of the red sleigh, thousands of servicemen and women volunteers on Christmas Eve, and the NORAD Tracks Santa website (NORADSanta.org) attracts an audience of over 22 million visitors. Unfortunately, in an attempt to make the magic even more immersive, NORAD produced an animated video with some imagery that was disconcerting for some viewers.

This is the image that drew criticism from viewers who claimed this year's NORAD tracking promoted more militarism than years past.

Parents and families who criticized this year's NORAD video stated that the two fighter jets accompanying Santa implied more 'militarism' than previous years of NORAD Santa tracking. A professor at the University of Washington commented, "If the military wants to keep its ranks stocked, it needs to appeal to children. The military knows it can't appeal to adults to volunteer. It is like the ad industry." (Fox, December 2013) Personnel at NORAD responded by calling the criticism "a media-manufactured controversy," even going so far as to insist that the fighter jets in the video are "unarmed." Closer examination of the text in the NORADSanta website shows the organization's jolly interpretation of their fighter jets' relationship with this Christmas character. NORADSanta.org explains the technical differences between the fighter jets Canadian and US pilots used in the escort mission, and then reassures readers that "Santa flies faster than any jet fighter" and that he "actually slows down for us to escort him... [to create] a very good continuous picture of his whereabouts." The site claims that he's never crashed, and "must be a great pilot!" 

Santa's sleigh 'technical data' measures the vehicle's weight at takeoff to be "75,000 gd (gumdrops)" and measures its dimensions in candy cane and lollipop units.

A still shot from the NORAD Tracks Santa video depicting Santa being tracked over the ocean by a surveillance plane.

SantaCams are surveillance cameras in every city around the globe that take "video and still image recordings" of Santa. They are only turned on every December 24th, and remain turned off the rest of the year.

Interestingly, viewers concerned with the fighter jets have not criticized the other military technology (radar, cameras, satellites) being used to track the flight, which NORAD describes in great detail. According to NORAD's Santa website, they utilize "the same satellites used in providing air warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America." The organization also claims to have cameras in every city around the world that they "only turn on December 24th" to track Santa, leaving it to the reader's imagination what they're doing the rest of the year. NORAD gets more cheeky with other explanations, saying that the same satellites they use to pick up the heat from rockets and missiles can pick up Rudolph's nose because it shines (burns?) so brightly. Overall, the employees at NORAD make a strong effort to explain their methodology for escorting and tracking Santa's worldwide progress to help reinforce the Christmas spirit, but also to bring some lightheartedness into their very serious workplace. "The thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer" is described as a major perk for pilots who volunteer to fly escort on Christmas eve.

The 10th year commemorative record sold in 1964 mixed holiday music with tracking reports from NORAD personnel. Note the US Air Force symbol on Santa's sleigh.

It would appear that NORAD has always had a great deal of fun with the program, and the tradition brings holiday cheer to an organization that has to be ready to defend the continent from missile strikes and aerial conflict year-round. "It's exciting to have children and parents call in from so many other countries and to hear how excited they get when we give them the details about Santa - it's an indescribable feeling," said eight-year Santa tracking veteran Susan Alexander. Seeing the thousands of military personnel and civilians who volunteer their efforts on Christmas eve for the program, including the First Lady, makes one believe that the initiative is really meant to help military families with young children cope with their loved ones who must fight overseas or work during the holidays. As General Jacoby stated in an interview about this year's tracking effort, "Christmas is a family holiday and to be able to spend this time with my NORAD family and my son is just a terrific experience."

Mother-daughter team Susan and Cara Alexander working at 4 a.m. on Christmas eve. Susan's husband is a retired Marine who works as a contractor at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado.

The whole controversy does raise one question: wouldn't it be easier to track Santa if he would just check in on Foursquare?

He is GOING to find out who's been naught and nice, and NORAD's going to help make a very detailed list.