NORAD Santa Surveillance Goes Live Today

On Christmas Eve, 1955, a young Colorado Springs resident dialed a phone number advertised by Sears Roebuck in a local newspaper that promised to connect him to Santa Claus. Instead, he reached Col. Harry Shoup at what is now called the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

“I’ll never forget it … the red phone rang, and it’s either the Pentagon calling or the four star general, General Partridge. So I picked it up and said, “Yes, sir, this is Col. Shoup… Sir? This is Col. Shoup … I said, Sir, can you read me alright?” "Are you really Santa Claus?" And I looked around [at] my staff and said, “Someone’s playing a joke on me and this isn’t funny.” I say, “Would you repeat that please?” “Are you really Santa Claus?” I knew then there was some screw up in the phones.

As befit a Cold War officer, Shoup readily agreed to check radar systems for signs of the famous man in a red suit.

Half a century later, NORAD continues the tradition of tracking Santa, but now it's all done in 21st century style. Streaming video, "Santa Cams," Google Maps and Google Earth (and Google Analytics, to watch the watchers) will all play a part in following the gift giving journey.

Santa's journey can be followed on the Web at the Norad tracks Santa website in seven languages including, for the first time this year, Chinese. Live tracking will begin at 11 a.m. Greenwich mean time (6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) on December 24. You can also call 1-877-HINORAD or email noradtrackingsanta@gmail.com

For more on Santa, see About.com's Guide to Immigration Issues, where Jennifer McFadden assesses Santa's citizenship status.