OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
12:23 PM – Wednesday, December 24, 2025
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is continuing a tradition that began in 1955 by using its global tracking systems to follow Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve delivery flight.
The Department of War’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) brought “a touch of magic to the Christmas season,” according to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, with the launch of this year’s Santa tracker on Wednesday, December 24th at 4:00 a.m. MST.
Decades ago, a child unintentionally called the then-Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), having gotten the phone number from a misprinted Sears newspaper advertisement directing children to call a number to reach Jolly Old Saint Nick.
Colonel Harry Shoup took the first call, and his staff began reporting Santa’s whereabouts to subsequent callers.
Today, in addition to NORAD’s Santa Operations Center with operators available to take calls until midnight, NORAD updates its map in real time to reflect Santa’s locations through the night.
Children can reach the call center at (877) 446-6723.
NORAD is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. More than 1,000 Canadian and American uniformed personnel, War Department employees and local civilians volunteer to answer hundreds of thousands of phone calls from around the world on Christmas Eve at Peterson Space Force Base.
“As families across the country gather to begin celebrating Christmas and the birth of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, our thoughts turn to our courageous warfighters who continue to stand vigilant across the globe, sacrificing dearly to safeguard our freedoms right here at home,” Parnell said in a statement.
The Santa tracker includes where Santa was last seen, where he’s headed next and how many gifts he’s delivered, so far.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Sponsored Content Below