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Resuming Its Annual PR Mission, NORAD Tracks Santa Claus (cnn.com)

An anonymous reader quotes CNN: The U.S. military command that is charged with protecting the airspace for North America is on alert this Christmas weekend for a man with a white beard and a red suit. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is tracking a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer around the world as it heads for U.S. airspace Sunday night. The public can access NORAD's official Santa Tracker to watch Santa Claus' voyage... [NOTE: The site will request access to your physical location before revealing Santa's whereabouts...]

The public can also call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) and speak live with NORAD trackers. People stuck in the car on the way to Grandmother's house, and with an OnStar subscription, can access the tracker by hitting their OnStar button... Marine Col. Bob Brodie of the 601st Air Operations Center said fighter jets will "fly along (Santa's) wing" in a "close escort," and that the center will "monitor him with our satellites and even have infrared trackers to follow Rudolph."

CNN reports NORAD first began tracking Santa in 1955 when a Sears ad misprinted the telephone number for children to call for updates on Mr. Claus's progress. "On December 24, 1955, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup was on duty, and instead of hanging up on countless children that night, Shoup checked the radar and updated the eager children on jolly old Saint Nick's location." But Gizmodo reports a different origin story: that one child had simply dialed the number incorrectly (in November), and weeks later that gave NORAD the idea for "one of the most successful military PR campaigns of the last century."

This year fifteen of the children's calls to NORAD were remotely answered by President Trump and first lady Melania.

6 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Santa is a distraction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Santa is a distraction from the real reason for Christmas. Kids should be focused on the birth of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. None of the other stuff like receiving presenrs matters in the least. I'll pray for all of the atheists here that you will start believing in Jesus Christ and be saved. Jesus is truly the Son of God. Most historians believe the Bible is true, which is why it's the most studied book in history. I'll pray for all of you to have a joyful Christmas. But I'll especially pray for atheists to start believing in Jesus and for children to not be distracted from Jesus by presents. Merry Christmas!

    1. Re:Santa is a distraction by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1, Insightful

      We do teach them why the Church decided to celebrate Christmas on Mithras' birthday, and honor St. Mary on May Day, Candlemas on Imbolc, and celebrate All Saints' Day on the day after Halloween. It was part of our Embrace-Extend-Destroy strategy. See people celebrate a pagan feastday, put a Christian overlay atop it, gradually shift focus to the Christian deity and demi-deities, wait a couple of centuries, and Poof! All the pagans and witches are polishing crystals in New Age bookstores struggling to make ends meet, and The Church has become a multi-billion dollar enterprise.

      We think about these things way more than you give us credit for...

    2. Re:Santa is a distraction by DerekLyons · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Most historians believe the Bible is true, which is why it's the most studied book in history.

      [[Citation needed]]

  2. Re:Are Santa mall dudes pedophiles? by Motard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because not everyone's brain works the way yours does?

  3. Thanks for nothing, CNN... by Yaztromo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The U.S. military command that is charged with protecting the airspace for North America

    That should be US and Canadian military command. You'd have a pretty hard time protecting all of North America without Canada's vigilance in the North, you know.

    Yaz

  4. Re:Really, that's what he's doing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What you say: "Granted, I do think Trump has a toddler's mindset, but..."

    What I hear: "Granted, I have mentally replaced the actual Trump with a propagandistic fabrication designed to feed my smug sense of superiority (at the cost of surrendering all ability to understand or predict objective reality), but..."