Santa Claus' deer spied over Europe: US–Canada air defense

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Santa Claus has been sighted flying near the North Pole and the sortie was tracked over Europe on his annual gift-giving tour, the North American Aerospace Command said in a statement. At 2359 GMT, Claus and company were spotted over Paris, France, according to the NORAD website (www.noradsanta.org) which reports in six languages the progress of Claus and his reindeer around the globe.

The defense system has been tracking Claus since 1955, when a US Sears Roebuck store in Colorado invited children to call Santa -- but advertised an incorrect phone number. That phone number just happened to be the hotline to a US air defense system based in Colorado. The commander took those calls and understood the urgency of the mission: he asked radar operators to report...