The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time.
Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa鈥檚 location. Millions more , from English to Japanese.
On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens , such as last year鈥檚 . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, 鈥淲hen is Santa coming to my house?鈥� and, 鈥淎m I on the naughty or nice list?鈥�
鈥淭here are screams and giggles and laughter,鈥� said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer.
Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, 鈥淒o you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.鈥�
NORAD鈥檚 annual tracking of Santa has endured since , predating and . The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as , and .
Here鈥檚 how it began and why the phones keep ringing.
The origin story is Hollywood-esque
It started with a child鈥檚 accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number.
A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war.
Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only 鈥渞ed phone鈥� and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list.
鈥淗e went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檙e not Santa,鈥欌�� Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999.
Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, 鈥淗o, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?鈥�
Shoup said he learned from the boy鈥檚 mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said.
In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole.
The tradition was born.
鈥淣ote to the kiddies,鈥� began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. 鈥淪anta Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.鈥�
In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from 鈥渢hose who do not believe in Christmas.鈥�
Is the origin story humbug?
Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup鈥檚 story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy鈥檚 call.
In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child鈥檚 call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number.
鈥淲hen a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should 鈥� considering the season:
鈥楾here may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he鈥檚 not the one I worry about coming from that direction,鈥欌�� Shoup said in the brief piece.
In 2015, The Atlantic magazine to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations.
Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955.
A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, 鈥淵ou leave it right there,鈥� and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike.
鈥淲hy, it made the military look good 鈥� like we鈥檙e not all a bunch of snobs who don鈥檛 care about Santa Claus,鈥� he said.
Shoup died in 2009. His children that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls.
鈥淎nd later in life he got letters from all over the world,鈥� said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. 鈥淧eople saying 鈥楾hank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.鈥欌��
A rare addition to Santa鈥檚 story
NORAD鈥檚 tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010.
Ad campaigns or movies try to 鈥渒idnap鈥� Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote 鈥淪anta Claus: A Biography.鈥� NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa鈥檚 story and views it through a technological lens.
In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada 鈥�- known as the northern warning system 鈥� are the first to detect Santa.
He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淎 probably little-known fact is that Rudolph鈥檚 nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.鈥�
NORAD has an app and website, , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa鈥檚 location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.
Ben Finley, The Associated Press
