For nearly 70 years now, the American-Canadian armed forces have followed Santa's trail on December 24 during his long distribution of gifts around the world. But where did this curious tradition originate?
Radar, satellites, combat aircraft: this year again, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) brought out the heavy artillery to track down Santa's sleigh during its distribution tour, much to the delight of children.
The tradition does not date from yesterday, but rather from 1955, when a child allegedly dialed, by mistake, the telephone number of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) – the predecessor of NORAD – while trying to to contact Santa Claus, we can read on the official website of the American-Canadian organization.
The boy had seen an ad in a Sears magazine that invited children to call Santa Claus, except that instead of the pot-bellied icon, Colonel Harry Shoup would have picked up the receiver.
But instead of hanging up, the colonel would have taken part in the game, asking his staff to keep an eye on the radars to follow the position of Santa Claus during his tour, we can read.
Since that day, CONAD, which became NORAD in 1958, has made it its duty to follow Santa's trail every year, and to inform children around the world by telephone, or using its tracker accessible on the web.
Last year, the site attracted more than 20.6 million visits, while NORAD responded to more than 400,000 calls, according to data from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Santa Claus is an incredible aviator,” William Radiff, director of operations for NORAD, told AFP, saying that tracking Santa Claus is “a fantastic opportunity to really spread joy through the world”.
Related News :