Keep Track of Santa on Christmas Eve

Published December 22, 2011 |

Did you know that NORAD has been tracking Santa’s progress every Christmas since 1955? It’s true! And now you can track Santa no matter where you may be: via website, Google Earth and social media. You can track him on your mobile phone with Google Maps for Mobile, too. Wouldn’t you know it? There’s even an app for that. Keeping trakc of Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve is even easier than ever before.

Like all great inventions (potato chips, teflon, silly putty and penicillin..yes, I mentioned all of those in the same breath), tracking Santa began by accident. The local Colorado Springs paper ran its annual ad by Sears & Roebuck giving out a phone number for kids to call up and speak to Santa directly. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it), someone at the paper misprinted the number. Instead of the North Pole, callers actually were rung through to the hotline of the Commander-in-Chief of CONAD (the predecessor of NORAD). Not one to disappoint the children, Director of Operations Colonel Harry Shoup played along by ordering the staff to track Santa’s whereabouts via radar. Thus, a tradition was born and continues to this day.

Beginning Saturday, December 24, 2011, you can track Santa’s sleigh thanks to NORAD using any of these methods below:

NORDAD Website
Google Maps for Mobile (click to download to your mobile phone)
App (for Apple-related products, click here…for Android, click here)
Facebook, Google+ and Twitter
Google Earth

I guess no one can be stealthy in today’s world if even Santa’s every move can be tracked. Hmm…I’m not sure how I feel about that. Maybe George Orwell was right, albeit a couple of decades short. Oh well. Forget Matt Lauer! I’ll be playing “Where in the World is Santa?” this Christmas Eve. Happy holidays, everyone!

Pamela Cendejas, Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn’t Enough of You to Go Around!