COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — For 70 years, children around the world have been able to track Santa's Christmas Eve journey thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD. The binational command, which includes members of the Canadian and U.S. military, protects the continent year-round but takes on a special mission one night each year.
Watch Live: NORAD tracks Santa on Christmas Eve
I spoke with Major Kathleen Leaton of the Royal Canadian Air Force to learn more about how NORAD helps Santa on his journey.
"We're 365 24/7. We never stop tracking airborne aircraft and airborne threats to North America," Leaton said. "Of course, Santa isn't a threat, but the tools we use to track Santa are those same tools we're using every day in the defense of North America."
NORAD uses a combination of radars, satellites, and fighter jets to track Santa during his Christmas Eve travels.
This marks the 70th year of Santa tracking, a tradition that began with a simple mistake. A child trying to call Santa accidentally dialed the Continental Air Defense Command instead.
"The colonel who answered the phone just basically said, Hey, you know, I can't put you on the line with Santa. He's a very busy guy on December 24th, however, I can tell you where he is," Leaton said.
While Santa operates on a tight timeline, NORAD officials encourage Utah children to be asleep before 9 p.m. to ensure they don't miss his visit.
"We don't know exactly when he'll reach your house specifically, and of course, you can call our call center to find out whereabouts he is, but we do know that it's a good idea to make sure you're in bed before 9 p.m.," Leaton said.
Families wanting to track Santa can call the NORAD hotline at 1-877-446-6723 or visit NORADSanta.org.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
