CNN
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While public fears loom in the Northeast amid the possibility of drone sightings, one sighting will soon bring holiday cheer across the country: Santa Claus.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is once again ready to track Santa and his reindeer around the world.
NORAD, which is responsible for protecting the skies over the United States and Canada, activated the Santa tracking system at 6 a.m. ET on Christmas Eve. Santa watchers can follow his journey NORAD website Or they can call the command center at 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to participate in the annual Christmas tradition.
Tracking can also be accessed through the NORAD Tracks Santa app, social media, Amazon Alexa, OnStar and SiriusXM, according to NORAD.
This is the 69th year that NORAD has tracked Santa’s Christmas journey around the world. I started by chance, According to the NORAD websiteIn 1955, when an ad in a local newspaper told children they could call Santa directly — only the contact number was misprinted. Instead of calling Old St. Nick, a kid called the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Air Force Colonel Harry Shoop, who answered the child’s call, quickly realized the mistake and confirmed to the child that he was Santa, according to the website. After more calls, Schaub assigned an officer to answer the calls, “and a tradition was born.” This tradition continued when NORAD was formed in 1958.
Santa Tracking receives millions of visitors from around the world each year, according to NORAD, and volunteers typically answer more than 130,000 calls.
