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And the grand tradition continues
Dec. 24th, 2009 08:51 amNORAD'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.
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.
