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NORAD tracks when Santa Claus is comin’ to town

FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2012, file photo, volunteer Katherine Beaupre takes phone calls from children asking where Santa is and when he will deliver presents to their house, during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa Operation, at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Santa is poised for another monster year on social media. NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.49 million Facebook “likes” before the journey even begins. And for Christmas Eve 2014, there’s a website version for smartphones. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2012, file photo, volunteer Katherine Beaupre takes phone calls from children asking where Santa is and when he will deliver presents to their house, during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa Operation, at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Santa is poised for another monster year on social media. NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.49 million Facebook “likes” before the journey even begins. And for Christmas Eve 2014, there’s a website version for smartphones. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2012, file photo, volunteer Katherine Beaupre takes phone calls from children asking where Santa is and when he will deliver presents to their house, during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa Operation, at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Santa is poised for another monster year on social media. NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.49 million Facebook “likes” before the journey even begins. And for Christmas Eve 2014, there’s a website version for smartphones. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are getting ready to monitor Santa Claus as he makes his Christmas flight.

Technology and social media have become key to the annual effort, and NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.5 million Facebook “likes.”

NORAD volunteers will spend Christmas Eve answering phone calls and emails from children wondering when Santa Claus is comin’ to town. The helpers also post on Facebook, Twitter and www.NORADSanta.org to provide updates on the fabled jolly man’s storybook journey.

The 59-year-old program began with a typo in a Colorado Springs newspaper ad that had kids calling a high-level military hotline asking for Santa.

Last year, volunteers took 117,000 phone calls and answered 9,600 emails.

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NORAD Tracks Santa: 877-HI-NORAD, noradtrackssanta@outlook.com, http://www.noradsanta.org