Every year NORAD – the division of the federal government responsible for defending the United States and Canada against a missle attack – serves another role….tracking the whereabouts of old St. Nick.

The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special `hotline` included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number.

Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the Commander-in-Chief`s operations `hotline.` The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first `Santa` call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole.

Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa`s position. Thus, the tradition was born.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

Coosa Valley News