# NORAD's Santa tracker is GO! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315 "2016-12-10T00:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/1 "2016-12-10T00:00:11Z")
It’s back and better than ever! [http://www.noradsanta.org/](http://www.noradsanta.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/2 "2016-12-10T00:12:30Z")
I saw a show once that explained why NORAD got into the Santa tracking business. A newspaper misprinted a Santa telephone number and the misprinted number was one for NORAD. The officer fielding the calls from kids got the idea to get the government involved, ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/3 "2016-12-11T00:02:11Z")
Here’s the story. > **[NORAD's Santa Tracker began with a typo and a good sport](https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport)** > > It all started in 1955 with a misprint in a Colorado newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret military hotline. Shoup played along with the tiny voice who called, and a tradition was born. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/4 "2016-12-11T14:38:06Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > explained why NORAD got into the Santa tracking business. A newspaper misprinted a Santa telephone number and the misprinted number was one for NORAD. url][http://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647...d-a-good-sport](http://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647...d-a-good-sport) Am I the only one who’s gobsmacked and shocked? That at the height of the cold war when nuclear alerts were a new and genuine concern…a simple civilian telephone number was the army’s way to communicate top-secret info to NORAD? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/5 "2016-12-12T23:58:30Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Am I the only one who’s gobsmacked and shocked? > That at the height of the cold war when nuclear alerts were a new and genuine concern…a simple civilian telephone number was the army’s way to communicate top-secret info to NORAD? Probably not the only way! But it does make sense: if things are going to pot, you want the simplest possible means of communication. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norads-santa-tracker-is-go/774315/6 "2016-12-14T19:53:34Z")
I wish they’d bring back the Google Earth KML file. It was much better when one could overlay it on Google Earth rather than the overly flashy window they put it in of late. It’s a staple at our house on Christmas Eve either way though, even if the kids are too old to “believe.”