Warwick, RI – Children world-wide are firing up their imaginations speculating as to the whereabouts of the Jolly old Elf, a.k.a St. Nick, a.k.a. Chris Cringle, as months of anticipation near their Christmas morning culmination, and there are a few online services to sate their curiosity.
A long-established service is a 59-year-old tradition by NORAD, the The North American Aerospace Command, once again tracking the Jolly Old Elf’s airborne sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, with Rudolph rounding out the nine Rangifer tarandus (their fancy Latin name) team.
Their tradition began in 1955 with NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), according to NORAD’s brief online history of the practice.
A Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. ad printed CONAD’s phone number as the one children should use to call Santa. The number put kids in touch with the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.”
Colonel Harry Shoup, director of operations at the time, ordered his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and they continued doing so each year, even after Canada and the US created NORAD, the bi-national air defense command for North America.
For the last several years, children have been able to track Santa by viewing a live feed on NORAD’s website. As of 11 a.m., Santa Claus was spotted over Thailand en route for Cambodia, according to NORAD’s Santa Tracker, http://www.noradsanta.org.
Another more recent addition to online Santa viewing services is reindeercam.com, which provides a live feed of St. Nick’s stables and boasts a view of his takeoff from various launch sites around the globe. Children on the East Coast can tune in for a launch broadcast at 8 p.m., according to the site.
A fun fact about reindeer, according to the site’s FAQ – both male and female reindeer have antlers. They’re still easy to tell apart though, using another bit of info provided by the site.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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