And the grand tradition continues

[gridlore]

NORAD's Santa Tracker is up and running.

The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born. In Europe, the USAF would scramble fighters to escort the sleigh in. Meaning military brats would hear the jets taking off and know that Santa was near. I know of bases that added "Claus, S." to their official visitor logs.

Comments

[kshandra]

It's on Twitter now, too.

[johno.livejournal.com]

One of the few perks of working the holiday when I was stationed at NORAD, was that I had access to the office that generated the Santa Tracker reports.

That and the top of the line steaks they would bring out of the deep freeze for the midnight and dinner time meals.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Growing up, if we were lucky, we got to talk to Santa on MARS. The sound of the jets on Christmas Eve was somehow reassuring. Later, in the service, I got to take part in various Christmas fantasies. Every time I hear these things it takes me back to the beginning and I'm that little boy again.