North American Aerospace Defense Command is preparing for this Traditional tracking of Santa Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve.
NORAD has tracked the December 24 flight since 1955, when a child accidentally flew is called an operations center for An agency that even before placing an order, believed that it was calling Santa Claus. That night the commander on duty guaranteed Baby Santa's safe passage to the North Pole and a tradition was established. Annual tracking began in 1959 after the predecessor agency NORAD was created. Since 1997, the tracker has been available online.
This year, the command will launch its “NORAD tracks Santa” website on Dec. 1. “Santa's North Pole Village” on the site will feature a holiday countdown, games and movies, holiday music and more. There will also be a downloadable app for cell phones and other devices.
On December 24, Command will begin tracking Santa's journey around the world from 4 a.m. to midnight Mountain Standard Time. Callers can dial 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa's location from 6 a.m. to midnight MST.
Preparing to follow Santa's journey
While the agency spends less than 24 hours tracking Santa, it takes months of preparation to get everything right. This operation is supported by the efforts of over a thousand volunteers, CBS News first reported,
Organizers first review the previous year's tracking and reconnect with the dozens of corporate contributors who annually fund the event. In the fall, they begin coordinating with service members at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs to convert the building into a NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center.
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
On Christmas Eve, volunteers answer phone calls from people around the world, while Colorado Springs community members bring food to the workers. CBS News previously reported that in 2022, the program responded to 260,000 calls worldwide.
“When they still call us and they find out these are real people, they are very surprised,” Colonel Elizabeth Mathias, director of public affairs for U.S. Northern Command, told CBS News in 2023. “I'm not expecting to talk to anyone.”