The jolly fellow from the north pole had no idea a misprinted phone number would blow his Christmas Eve cover.
NORAD’s mission to track Santa began in 1955 when a young child called the Continental Air Defence Command (CONAD) Operations Centre while trying to reach Santa.
Col. Harry Shoup was commanding that night and assigned it to a permanent spot, becoming a tradition for more than 65 years.
Millions of children now contact or watch NORAD for updates on Santa’s whereabouts on Dec. 24 and the Department considers it to be one of its biggest community outreach programs.
NORAD says they also answer around 130,000 calls on the NORAD Tracks Santa Hotline and over 200 million website visitors.
For children and those young-at-heart Santa’s location can be seen via phone at 1-877-HI-NORAD or their website.
He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
