NORAD Tracks Santa!

Picture credit and complete transcript of the 1964 Christmas Eve NORAD Tracks Santa. This site is a lot of fun!

NORAD stands for North American Air Defense Command.

"The "NORAD Tracks Santa" tradition goes back to the late 1950s when a young boy accidentally dialed the unlisted number of the Director of Combat Operations at NORAD Headquarters in Colorado Springs. The boy was actually trying to phone a department store Santa Claus whose extension was only one digit removed from the phone at the NORAD center.

The Combat Operations Center Director was quick to realize that a mistake had been made, and carried on a long conversation with the boy assuring him that the forces of NORAD would indeed guarantee Santa a safe trip from the North Pole." [Full text]

Norad has been tracking Santa on Christmas Eve for more than 50 years! Here is the NORAD Tracks Santa 2006 site.