NORAD tracks Santa's trek around the globe for 68th year with new operations center
NORAD starts notifications on Santa’s movements every year around 4 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve through its website and app and, later in the day, will have volunteers standing by to answer calls from the young and young at heart.
NORAD tracks Santa's trek around the globe for 68th year with new operations center
Lt. General Blaise Frawley, Deputy Commander of the North America Aerospace Defense Command, joins FOX Weather to discuss how NORAD tracks Santa's every move around the globe each Christmas Eve.
PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Co. – For the 68th year, the Department of Defense (DoD) will ensure Santa safely delivers all of his presents to children worldwide.
The North America Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) monitors and defends the airspace from the Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Christmas Eve, the agency and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command, use its unique skill set to track Santa as part of an annual tradition that began by accident 68 years ago.
NORAD starts notifications on Santa’s movements every year around 4 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve through its website and app and, later in the day, will have volunteers standing by to answer calls from the young and young at heart.
![Decorations awaiting to be placed cover a table inside Hangar 123, the new location for this year’s NORAD Tracks Santa program at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2024. Hangar 123 will provide more space and a more operational feel for the more than 1,000 volunteers who will enter the NTS Operations Center on Dec. 24 to answer phone calls from people around the world asking for Santa’s location. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin)]()
Image 1 of 3Decorations awaiting to be placed cover a table inside Hangar 123, the new location for this year’s NORAD Tracks Santa program at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2024. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin) (DoD)
![Augmentees assist 21st Civil Engineer Squadron personnel hang the American flag inside Hangar 123, the new location of the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2023. Hangar 123 will provide more space and a more operational feel for the more than 1,000 volunteers who will enter the NTS Operations Center on Dec. 24 to answer phone calls from people around the world asking for Santa’s location. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin)]()
Image 2 of 3Augmentees assist 21st Civil Engineer Squadron personnel hang the American flag inside Hangar 123, the new location of the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2023. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin) (DoD)
![Members of the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron hang a banner outside Hangar 123, the new location for this year’s NORAD Tracks Santa program at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2024. Hangar 123 will provide more space and a more operational feel for the more than 1,000 volunteers who will enter the NTS Operations Center on Dec. 24 to answer phone calls from people around the world asking for Santa’s location. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin)]()
Image 3 of 3Members of the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron hang a banner outside Hangar 123, the new location for this year’s NORAD Tracks Santa program at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., Dec. 20, 2024. (Department of Defense photo by Michelle Martin) (DoD)
Children worldwide can call the toll-free number 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) and ask, "Where's Santa?" One of 1,000 NORAD volunteers will give them the unclassified details of St. Nick's whereabouts without disclosing national security secrets. According to NORAD, the agency typically gets about 130,000 calls to the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline.
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As the countdown to Christmas Eve raced on, NORAD prepared its new operations center with the help of the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron at Peterson Space Force Base.
Hangar 123 on base has been turned into a "winter wonderland" to serve as a call center for the big day, decorated with ornaments and American and Canadian flags.
"Being in Hangar 123 roots the program squarely in the operational context that it came from," said NORAD Tracks Santa program manager 1st Lt. Sean Carter. "Over the years, this particular program has experienced several different iterations, sometimes leaning more into the festivities of the holiday season, other times celebrating the whimsy. Ultimately, tracking Santa is a military operation, and having Hangar 123 as the new home to the call center couldn’t be more appropriate."
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When asked about the DoD assets used to track Santa's progress around the world, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed that the DoD will ensure jolly old St. Nick "gets wherever he needs to go safely and securely," but how NORAD tracks the big man in red is "controlled and classified information."
It's probably a good thing, as we don't want Santa's secrets getting out to any children hoping to track his movements and stay awake to receive their gifts.
The history of NORAD tracking Santa
This Dec. 24, 2012, photo shows a woman monitoring the progress of Santa Claus in Washington, D.C. The Santa tracker at right is set up by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a U.S.-Canada joint operation, the other is by the search engine giant Google. For the past five years, NORAD’s main partner has been Google. But after discussing the project with Google this year, Davis said, the two groups had different visions for the future of the tracker program and agreed to go their separate ways.
(KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
It's hard to believe, but sometimes typos can lead to good things.
NORAD's role in tracking St. Nicolas started in 1955 when a child, trying to reach Santa, called the unlisted number of Continental Air Defense Command’s Operations Center in Colorado. The phone number was misprinted in a newspaper advertisement telling children to call Santa.
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Director of Operations Colonel Harry Shoup answered the phone and told his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. After that happy accident, it became a yearly tradition for the DoD to track St. Nick's whereabouts on Christmas Eve.