The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced on Tuesday that it has received a record number of calls from curious children and adults inquiring about when Santa Claus will arrive at their homes, according to Fox News.
NORAD spokesperson Stacey Fenton stated that by midnight on Tuesday local time, they had responded to over 110,000 calls, which is four thousand more than last year’s record.
Tracking Santa Claus on his journey around the world is a decades-long tradition of NORAD. The American air defense is generally a very serious agency responsible for protecting the U.S. and Canada and monitoring air attacks and nuclear missile launches. However, as every year since 1955, its powerful radars and satellites are also used for “real” purposes.
After yesterday’s departure from the North Pole, Santa’s sleigh was first spotted over the islands in the Pacific Ocean. It then headed towards Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. It takes him 24 hours to travel around the world and visit every family, and he finished his work around 10 a.m. Central European Time on Tuesday.
Contrary to the secrecy surrounding him, NORAD even ventured to explain how it knows where Santa Claus is at every moment. It is said that “Rudolph’s red and shiny nose sends an infrared signal that our satellites capture and thus locate him.”
NORAD’s engagement with Santa Claus began in 1955 when a Sears, Roebuck & Co advertisement invited children to call him directly at a specific phone number.
However, the number in the advertisement contained a ‘typo’. Instead of Santa’s private phone number, children ended up with the number for the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD’s predecessor.
NORAD relies on partners and volunteers for this extensive and important task. This year, there were over 1,200 of them, and the center of the entire operation is at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
