On December 24, 1948, a communiqué issued by the United States Air Force stated an “early warning radar net to the north” had detected “one unidentified sleigh, powered by eight reindeer, at 14,000 feet [4,300 meters], heading 180 degrees.” The Associated Press learned of this message and made it public. This was the first time that the United States Armed Forces promulgated a statement announcing they were tracking Santa Claus’ sleigh on Christmas Eve, however it was not repeated for several years.
It was not until 1955 that the U.S. Armed Forces would make such a proclamation. In November 1955, a child apparently misdialed a phone number provided by Sears as part of a Christmas promotion with a number to reach Santa Claus that was advertised in the Colorado City, Colorado Gazette. The child did not reach Santa Claus, but instead reached the desk of Strategic Air Command Colonel Harry Shoup, who was a crew commander on duty at the Colorado Springs’ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. Shoup responded bluntly, and with no additional Santa Claus-related routes to CONAD.
However, in December, a member of Shoup’s staff placed a picture of Santa on a board used to track unidentified aircraft. Shoup saw a public relations opportunity for CONAD, and he requested that CONAD’s public affairs officer Colonel Barney Oldfield inform the press that CONAD was tracking Santa’s sleigh.
“CONAD, Army, Navy, and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas,“ Oldfield said in the press release.
Colonel Shoup did not intend to repeat the release in.1956, However, Oldfield told him that the Associated Press and United Press International were awaiting reports that CONAD again was tracking Santa Claus. The Colonel finally agreed that Oldfield should again make the announcement which gave birth to an annual tradition.
The then North America Air Defense Command (NORAD) took over the reporting responsibility from CONAD in 1958. The statements became more detailed through the years. On December 24, 1960, NORAD’s northern command post at Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada, issued regular updates of a purported sleigh operated by “S. Claus” which it identified as “undoubtedly friendly”. During the evening, NORAD claimed that the sleigh had made an emergency landing on the ice of Hudson Bay, where Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) interceptor aircraft were reportedly sent to investigate Santa bandaging his reindeer Dancer’s front foot, after which the RCAF planes were said to have escorted Santa on the rest of his rounds.
NORAD, which was renamed the North American Aerospace Defense Command in 1981, published a public hotline number to call to get updates on Santa Claus’ whereabouts on his journey across the globe.
You can follow Santa online as he makes his way around the world at noradsanta.org.
