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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.

10 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 Z80a · · Score: 2

      This is why the words (at least the good ones) are more important than the existence of a god or not.
      If you start to bicker about "who's right", well, you end up with bloodshed, even when the words of your god tell you to not.

  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

    1. Re:Thanks for nothing, CNN... by scottrocket · · Score: 3, Funny

      Another fun fact: Santa freezes time on December 1st, and he and his helpers - all being immortal - take their sweet time making the toys for Hasbro, Nintendo, etc. They then unfreeze time on December 2nd, kick back with whiskey, refreeze time on December 24th, and then take their sweet time breaking into your house, delivering presents, and touching your stuff and you. A fair bargain for free gifts, and no contrivances of relativity needed. Merry Santamas!!

  4. Kimmie: 1, Santa: 0 by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Breaking News: North Korea just shot Santa down with a missile.

    1. Re:Kimmie: 1, Santa: 0 by ClickOnThis · · Score: 3, Funny

      Talk about a War on Christmas...

      You're a mean one, Mr. Kim
      You really are a grump
      You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick Donald Trump, Mr. Kim ...
      Given a choice between the two of you, I'd take the ... the ... uh ...
      Can I get back to you?

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  5. Re:Are Santa mall dudes pedophiles? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 2

    I suspect in many cases because they'd otherwise be unemployed and it's a paying gig.

    In others, it's people who like kids - which is a perfectly natural and socially beneficial thing except in the rare case of pedophiles where it's sexual.

    Actual pedos? They're not hiding behind every corner you know, and pedophile does not equal stupid. You think they're going to seek out momentary non-sexual contact under the gaze of parents? The pedos want to be coaches and priests.

  6. 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..."

  7. Re: Really, that's what he's doing? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

    Isn't it a bit toddlerish to insult someone constantly and then say "OMG YOU ARE SUCH A TODDLER FOR RESPONDING!"?

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;