Christmas Eve is finally here after a long wait of a whole year and people have already started waiting for their dearest Santa to come and deliver his blessings as well as the special gifts he has in store for them. If you are also eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival and want to know exactly when he will reach your hometown, NORAD Santa Tracker is already live for you which will provide a real-time live location of Santa Claus and the details about where he is now headed.
This article brings you all the details you need to know about the NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve including the story behind the tradition of tracking Santa and how exactly it started.
NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve: What Exactly Is It?
NORAD Santa Tracker is an annual Christmas program first launched by the North American Aerospace Defense Command in 1955. The annual program publishes live tracking of Santa’s location as he leaves the North Pole and then travels across the globe to deliver gifts and blessings to children who deserve them every year on Christmas Eve.
The program originally begins on the 1st of December but the actual stimulation of tracking Santa’s location goes live at midnight on the 24th of December every year.
Also read: Is Santa Real? How To Answer Kids’ Questions Without Killing The Christmas Spirit
How The Tradition Started?
The tradition of tracking Santa’s location every year began in 1955 when a Sears advertisement accidentally misprinted a phone number that children were supposed to call to reach Santa.
Instead of reading the North Pole, the call of a young boy reached the Continental Air Defense Command where the Colonel of the Air Force named Harry Shoup picked up the call. As the colonel realized the mix-up, instead of clearing it out he kept speaking with the boy in the voice of Santa. He later jokingly told his staff to “track” Santa’s location on their radar marking the start of an age-old tradition.
How The Santa Tracker Tradition Became A Light In The Darker Times?
The tradition of tracking Santa’s live location began at a time when the world was plunged into the darkness of the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup used the tradition to boost the morale of his soldiers and the public. This story first came into the limelight in 1955 as NORAD used the tradition in order to assure the children that their dearest Santa would have a safe passage into the United States, even jokingly referencing Santa’s protection against any possible attacks by those who do not believe in Christmas.
The Modern-Day Adaptations
NORAD’s live Santa tracking proved to be an age-long tradition as it maintained its hype despite many attempts at Santa’s commercialization failing. The main reason why the tradition stayed alive for so long is because NORAD actively combined technology and the magic of the Christmas holidays.
NORAD claims that it uses the satellite systems reserved for national defense, but it only simulates predetermined locations for people. Today, the tradition has become global, with millions of users following it online. NORAD publishes the location in nine different languages, and millions of children call it every year to ask about Santa’s whereabouts.
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NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve: How Is The Tradition Still Alive?
Despite Government shutdowns and other major challenges that led to many failed attempts of other organizations to commercialize Santa in a similar way, the NORAD Santa Tracker volunteers still continue to answer the calls of children asking for Santa’s whereabouts.
The tradition now has its own app as well that allows the families to track the live location of Santa in real-time. The Air Force colonel who now oversees the program Case Cunningham mentioned that the main focus is to keep the tradition alive for the sake of children’s joy.
How Does NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve Work?
If you wish to know when Santa Claus will be reaching your location, you can simply visit the official website of the NORAD Santa Tracker. The official website explains how 47 different checkpoints of the North American Warning System keep a close eye on the indications of Santa leaving the North Pole and once he does, their satellites track his location as well as monitor any air attack aimed at North America.
You can also call the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center at 1-877-446-6723 from 6 AM to 2 AM ET on the 24th of December. More than 1,250 personnel from the US and Canada actively volunteer to answer the calls, according to reports. Some of the years, the president and first lady also join in.
Conclusion
Colonel Harry Shoup passed away in the year 2009 but left behind a tradition that continues to light up Christmas for many children who believe in Santa and wait for his arrival eagerly. Shoup’s children once mentioned they received letters from many people across the globe thanking them for Colonel’s precious role in the tracker’s creation.
