PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 3, 2023—Every year, beginning Dec. 1, the North American Aerospace Defense Command activates its Santa Tracker website.

Santa Tracker is an interactive website featuring Santa’s North Pole Village that includes a holiday countdown, games, videos, music, information and more. Holiday music for the site is provided by the Air Force bands.

Each day the Santa Tracker website unlocks a new game in its online arcade that’s challenging and fun for kids of all ages.

NORAD monitors and defends North American airspace 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, but on Dec. 24, it takes on a new mission: tracking Santa Claus as he makes his way across the globe delivering presents to children.

Beginning at 4 a.m. and through midnight MST, Santa Tracker visitors can watch where Santa goes throughout the evening. This is especially helpful to make sure everyone is in bed asleep in time for his visit.

When it all began

NORAD has been tracking Santa’s trip since 1955.

It all started when a Sears newspaper advertisement listed the wrong phone number for children to call to speak with Santa Claus.

Back in December 1955, when a young girl placed a phone call using the wrong number from the ad, she wound up calling the director of combat operations at what was NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command.

When Col. Harry Shoup answered the phone, he quickly realized the error and instead of hanging up, assured the girl that he was Santa Claus.

Shoup’s team fielded calls all night as children continued to call, hoping to speak with Santa.

Thus began the tradition that’s continued for the last 68 years.

Using a constellation of defense satellites with infrared sensors, NORAD is able to keep pinpoint accuracy on the heat sensor from Rudolph’s nose. That information is provided on the Santa Tracker website Dec. 24 as Santa and his team make their trip around the world.

Santa’s helpers

Each year on Christmas Eve, volunteers at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs staff the phones to field more than 53,000 calls and answer more than 2,000 emails from around the world asking where Santa is and when he’ll arrive at their house.

Phone lines are open Dec. 24 for 23 hours, with 10 two-hour shifts from 4 a.m. through midnight MST. Dialing 877-Hi-NORAD (877-466-6723) will connect the call to one of Santa’s helpers. Lines remain open afterwards until 3 a.m. with an automated message regarding Santa’s whereabouts.

In the world of high technology, Santa can be tracked through social media, phone apps, home monitoring systems such as Amazon Alexa, OnStar and, of course, the traditional phone call.

NORAD Tracks Santa is available on digital media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, and on contributor platforms, Amazon Alexa, Bing, SiriusXM and OnStar.

The official NORAD Tracks Santa app is also in the Apple App and Google Play stores to count down the days until Santa’s journey on mobile devices. 

The website is available in nine languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and new this year, Korean.