# So how much does it cost each year for our governemnt to track "Santa" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 26, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758 "2008-12-26T18:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/1 "2008-12-26T18:37:18Z")
I have read that NORAD tracks him over the north pole and then the Canadian air force hands him off to us and we escort him across the border…I am sure just getting the aircraft airborne costs thousands of dollars. The fuel a bunch more…How much does this cost us? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/2 "2008-12-26T18:45:14Z")
I assume they’re plotting an imaginary point on the map, keeping its pace roughly with the time zone delineations. Why would anything need to take flight? ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/3 "2008-12-26T18:49:38Z")
:: Staring at the OP. Just staring, and wondering… :: ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/4 "2008-12-26T18:54:50Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I assume they’re plotting an imaginary point on the map, keeping its pace roughly with the time zone delineations. Why would anything need to take flight? Good question, I don’t know I am asking how much it costs to take flight. [http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/norad-keeps-the.html](http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/norad-keeps-the.html) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/5 "2008-12-26T19:01:54Z")
You’re asking how much what costs to take flight? Despite what that blog entry says, I don’t think anything really takes flight. From [NORAD’s Santa-tracking website FAQ:](http://www.noradsanta.org/en/faq.html#f21) “Almost no taxpayer dollars are spent on this effort! The NORAD Tracks Santa program is made possible by volunteers and through the support of corporate partners who bear virtually all of the costs.” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/6 "2008-12-26T19:09:10Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Good question, I don’t know I am asking how much it costs to take flight. > > [http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/norad-keeps-the.html](http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/norad-keeps-the.html) From your article… > [@](#): > > The North Warning System, a network of 47 radars strung across the continent’s northernmost frontier, tells NORAD when St. Nick takes off from the North Pole. Infrared satellites track the jolly old elf’s flight path once he’s airborne. “The satellites actually pick up an infrared signature from Rudolph’s nose,” Navy Lt. Desmond James told us. > > Once Santa touches down, a little-known network of surveillance cameras called “Santa Cam” transmit images of St. Nick making deliveries. The global network went online 10 years ago, and NORAD officials swear it is used only on Christmas Eve. Four C-18 fighter jets escort Santa through Canada before handing the job over to F-16s as the sleigh enters American airspace. Canadian Air Force Capt. Matthew Maurice is among the pilots assigned to the job. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/7 "2008-12-26T19:15:48Z")
So _that’s_ what a nuclear-powered multi-megaton whoosh sounds like. I always wondered. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/8 "2008-12-26T19:22:48Z")
Good thing the Russkies don’t have Santa-tracking technology like this. We choose to track Santa Claus, not because it is easy, but because it is hard! ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/9 "2008-12-26T19:33:46Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I assume they’re plotting an imaginary point on the map, keeping its pace roughly with the time zone delineations. Why would anything need to take flight? Wow you athiests have an explination for everything 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/10 "2008-12-26T19:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > :: Staring at the OP. Just staring, and wondering… :: > [@](#): > > So that’s what a nuclear-powered multi-megaton whoosh sounds like. okay, folks…now who’s being whooshed here? Me, I think it’s all the posters who took the OP seriously. But maybe it was the OP . Or maybe it’s Norad.. Or maybe it’s me… 'cause, gee whiz, I sure wanna see that “Santa cam” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/11 "2008-12-26T19:50:01Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > okay, folks…now who’s being whooshed here? > Me, I think it’s all the posters who took the OP seriously. > But maybe it was the OP . > Or maybe it’s Norad.. > Or maybe it’s me… > 'cause, gee whiz, I sure wanna see that “Santa cam” Hey, ya ask a factual question, you get a factual answer. If the OP’s trying to be funny, I apologize for not getting the joke, but I also would suggest a different forum. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/12 "2008-12-26T19:59:19Z")
Santa is way faster than any known fighter plane though and probably faster than even the missiles. It doesn’t actually “cost” anything extra to track him. NORAD uses Christmas Eve to test their early warning ICBM tracking systems for a launch coming in from over the North Pole which is what the Russians may have done during the Cold War and may still even do today in a fit of desperation. Putting in tracking systems in that area to detect Santa are a really good cover story. He doesn’t take off at exactly the same time on Christmas Eve every year so being able to detect proves that the military, procedures, and equipment are doing what they are supposed to do. Those systems did fail a couple of times back in the early 1980’s and Santa was in American airspace before you could say “Ho, ho, ho”. This scared president Reagan so badly, he proposed an alternate project called “Star Wars” based on a movie he once saw. The technology seems to work well today though judging by the results on web sites. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/13 "2008-12-26T21:54:28Z")
Actually, I could have sworn that Santa mounted some sort of super-duper RFID on the bottom of his sleigh, which is read, EZ-Pass style, by various sensors as he goes by. Or maybe he feeds the RFID tags to his reindeer and corks their buttholes. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/14 "2008-12-27T00:59:03Z")
Santa uses stealth technology. We acquired it from him several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/15 "2008-12-27T02:46:51Z")
The cost to some government cost center could be fairly high. They all have budgets and if this activity is actually charged out they would have to account for the loaded hourly rate of any employees doing the tracking. A charge for things like equipment depreciation, indirect office expenses, utilities, etc. The actual, incremental, cost is probably zero. ---
**Author:** ![Seeker\_of\_Truth\_and\_Beauty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Seeker\_of\_Truth\_and\_Beauty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seeker_of_Truth_and_Beauty)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/16 "2008-12-27T06:15:45Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Good thing the Russkies don’t have Santa-tracking technology like this. We choose to track Santa Claus, not because it is easy, but because it is hard! In Soviet Russia, Santa tracks _you!_ [sub]Wait – that didn’t … Damn.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/17 "2008-12-27T12:20:45Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Santa is way faster than any known fighter plane though and probably faster than even the missiles. It doesn’t actually “cost” anything extra to track him. NORAD uses Christmas Eve to test their early warning ICBM tracking systems for a launch coming in from over the North Pole which is what the Russians may have done during the Cold War and may still even do today in a fit of desperation. Now all we have to do is hope the Russians don’t do a “Washington crossing the Delaware/Battle of Trenton” Christmas Eve attach to distract our distracted NORAD trackers into confusing an ICBM attack with an eight-reindeer sleigh. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/18 "2008-12-27T19:55:48Z")
I’m appalled. What happened to the separation of Church and State? Santa is Christian. NORAD should be precluded from using equipment supplied by the State to track him. I shall be writing to my congressman forthwith! AND I SHALL BE USING CAPITAL LETTERS!! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/19 "2008-12-27T20:10:08Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I’m appalled. What happened to the separation of Church and State? Santa is Christian. NORAD should be precluded from using equipment supplied by the State to track him. I shall be writing to my congressman forthwith! AND I SHALL BE USING CAPITAL LETTERS!! What evidence do you have that Santa is Christian? Everything that I have heard from both him and others is that he is some sort of pagan/agnostic that likes to do good deeds and he does them well. I personally met Santa when I was young a few times and he never tried to push any biblical ideals on me at all. I even know families that DO NOT go to church and he still gives the kids presents year after year without expecting anything in return. I don’t want to let this degenerate into a religious debate but there are not even any churches at the North Pole as far as I know. Why do you say that? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758/20 "2008-12-27T20:12:03Z")
Looks like NORAD missed an incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Whoosh. Too busy tracking the jolly fat guy, apparently [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-much-does-it-cost-each-year-for-our-governemnt-to-track-santa/478758.md?page=2)