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Father Christmas is currently flying around the globe to deliver presents to children around the world.
Every year Norad – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – tracks Santa’s journey as he travels the planet in his sleigh.
The tradition began in 1955 when a child mistakenly rang a Colorado military command asking to speak to Father Christmas – after a local newspaper ran an advert by a department store containing a misprinted phone number.
Air Force Commander Harry Shoup, who was manning the phones that Christmas Eve, quickly realised the mistake and assured the child that he was in fact Santa Claus.
As more calls came in that night, Commander Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering the phone, birthing a tradition that passed over to Norad when it was formed in 1958.
Every year since, the agency – which ordinarily defends and monitors the skies over North America – has fielded children’s questions about the red-and-white-clad chimney intruder and his unrivalled delivery schedule.
Stick with us as we follow his route around the world.
‘Santa is on his way’
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden participated in Norad Santa tracking calls on Sunday evening with children and families across the country, said the White House in a statement.
A post from Jill Biden on the social media platform now known as X showed a picture of her and the president, sitting on a couch with a Christmas tree behind them, and said that Norad had “confirmed the good news: Santa is on his way!”
The military is tracking Santa with “the same technology we use every single day to keep North America safe,” said US Air Force Colonel Elizabeth Mathias, Norad’s chief spokesperson. “We’re able to follow the light from Rudolph’s red nose.”
Ms Mathias says that while Norad has a good intelligence assessment of his sleigh’s capabilities, Santa does not file a flight plan and may have some high-tech secrets up his red sleeve this year to help guide his travels — maybe even artificial intelligence.“I don’t know yet if he’s using AI,” said Ms Mathias. “I’ll be curious to see if our assessment of his flight this year shows us some advanced capabilities.”
Namita Singh25 December 2023 05:00
Santa departs from Bangkok after delivering gifts to 2 billion children
As children around the world eagerly await Santa’s arrival on Christmas, the military is closely tracking his every move.
Armed with radar, sensors, aircraft and Christmas spirit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado is reporting on the movements of Santa’s sleigh since his takeoff from the North Pole for parts of the globe where Christmas comes first. Once again it is sharing those details so kids can follow along.
By late Christmas Eve in Thailand, late morning Sunday in the eastern US, the tracker reported that Santa had departed Bangkok and moved on to Burma, Tibet, China and Russia, distributing nearly 2 billion gifts so far in his travels.
Namita Singh25 December 2023 04:00
Santa makes a round of England
Santa made it to England as midnight struck.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain25 December 2023 01:30
How much does Santa’s sleigh weigh? (Too many mince pies)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain25 December 2023 00:30
Santa heading for England
Santa is now in the UK as he just left Cardiff and is on his way now to Durham.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 December 2023 23:44
Santa arrives in Hallstatt
The charming town of Hallstatt in Austria will be sprinkled with some extra magic as Santa touches down in time to deliver Christmas gifts.
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 December 2023 22:19
Santa is in Europe
Santa is well and truly in Europe as he delivers presents to Copenhagen.
You know what means- the man in red will soon touch down to UK. Stay tuned!
(Norad Tracker)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 December 2023 21:57
What’s Santa’s progress?
Over 3,407,301,279 presents now delivered as Santa’s reindeers race to complete the Christmas mission before the big day.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain24 December 2023 21:04
