Tracking Santa Underway at NORAD

Swamp Fox Airmen and their families welcome the arrival of Santa Claus at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., Dec. 5, 2015. Follow Santa as he travels the globe by visiting www.noradsanta.org. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st First Class Ashleigh S. Pavelek/Released)

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of tracking Santa’s yuletide journey.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. today (Dec. 24, 2015), visitors to the NORAD Tracks Santa website at noradsanta.org, can watch Santa make preparations for his flight.

NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will stream videos over various locations, with phone operators available to answer questions about Santa’s whereabouts.

Also new this year, the website features the NORAD Headquarters in the North Pole Village, and highlights of the program over the past 60 years.

At 4 a.m. MST (6 a.m. EST), trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire as to Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to [email protected].

Image credit: NORAD.

Any time on Dec. 24, Windows Phone users can ask Cortana for Santa’s location, and OnStar subscribers can press the OnStar button in their vehicles to locate Santa.

This year’s contributers include: the 21st Space Wing, 140th Wing, Acuity Scheduling, Alaska NORAD Region, America Forces Network, Analytical Graphics, Inc., Avaya, BeMerry! Santa / Noerr Programs, Bing®, Canadian NORAD Region, Chirpon, The Citadel Mall, Civil Air Patrol, Christmas in the Park, Colorado Springs Business Alliance, Continental NORAD Region, CradlePoint, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution Systems, DoD News, The Elf on the Shelf, Extended Stay America, Federal Aviation Administration, Getty Images, Globelink Foreign Language Center, Harris, Hewlett Packard (HP), iLink-Systems, Kids.gov, Level 3 Communications, Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, Meshbox, Microsoft®, Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific, National Tree Lighting Ceremony, Naturally Santa’s Inc., Office Depot/Office Max, OneRender, OnStar, PCI Broadband, Portable North Pole/Ugroup Media, Pueblo Riverwalk, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Colorado, Save the Children, Sears, Space Foundation, Spil Games, SiriusXM®, Strategic Air & Space Museum, Unity, U.S. Air Force Academy Band, U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, U.S. Air Force Band of the West, U.S. Air Force Band, U.S. Air Force Heartland of America Band, U.S. Army Ground Forces Band, U.S. Band of MidAmerica, U.S. Coast Guard Band, U.S. Department of State Family Liaison Office, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Postal Service, Verizon, Visionbox, West Point Band, Windows Azure, and Xtomic.

The tradition began in 1955 when a media advertisement directed children to call Santa direct, but the number was misprinted and rang through to the crew commander at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center. Thus began the tradition, which NORAD carried on since it was created in 1958.