NORAD Santa tracker: Follow Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve journey
He's made his list, he's checked it twice, he already knows who's been naughty and nice. That's right: Santa Claus is coming to town – and you can follow him every step of the way.
Every year, the boffins at Norad (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) kindly dedicate December 24th to tracking Father Christmas as he darts from chimney to chimney, country to country, and continent to continent, delivering gifts while voraciously consuming sweetmeats.
Their service began by happenstance in 1955, when a Sears ad in a local paper offering the chance to speak to Santa mistakenly printed the top secret phone number of Conad – Norad’s predecessor. US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup took the first call from a young boy wanting to talk to Santa in good humour, and so a Christmas tradition was born.
Now, every year, thousands of volunteers staff telephones and computers to answer calls and e-mails from children (and adults) around the world. As of 2007, search engine Google has also provided an online tracker, in partnership with Norad.
Join us below to follow Santa's snow-flecked footsteps around the world. And keep your fingers crossed that when he arrives at your house, he'll find your name on the good side of that list ...
Q: Why is Rudolph's nose red?
A: Because it's hotter than the sun.
Here's some science from Norad, on how they use the heat from Rudolph's nose to follow their man...
Eyes to the skies
He's off!
We have our first Santa spotting of Christmas Eve 2017, with Norad reporting that his red sleigh is currently zooming over Russia, en route to New Zealand and Australia.
Now that they've got Santa locked on their radar, you can follow his progress in the video at the top of this article.
Godspeed, Santa Claus.
Urgent: Presents needed
Are you just waking up to the realisation that it's Christmas Eve? Have you hitherto buried your head in the snow, unwilling to even countenance the idea that you might need to buy a semi-random assortment of objects for your friends and loved ones? Does the thought of a last-minute trip to the heaving High Street make you want to heave in an entirely different manner?
Then fear not, because we've rounded up some gift subscription ideas that a) will make great presents, and b) can be bought from the comfort of your front room, without so much as the need to put on a pair of pants.
Reference: https://trends.google.com/trends/story/US_lnk_O8sHvQAwAAA8xM_en