Santa-Tracking Web Site Open

National Guard, Dec 2006

The North American Aerospace Defense Command last month activated its "NORAD Tracks Santa" Web site-www.noradsanta.org-for 2006.

The U.S.-Canadian command's program began in 1955 when an a child mistakenly called NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The commander who answered the phone that night gave the youngster the information he requested-the whereabouts of Santa Claus-and thus the tradition of NORAD tracking Santa began.

The program has grown immensely since it was first presented on the Internet in 1998. Last year, the Web site received 912 million "hits" from 204 countries and territories.

-Compiled from staff and Pentagon reports