Tis the Season to Be Tracking Santa Online

Once again, ’tis the season for tracking Santa – something that North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, has been doing for 60 years.

Here’s this year’s version of the Santa Tracker – a work of art to be sure.

Peek behind the scenes at the military’s Santa-tracking operation at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. with USA TODAY reporter Trevor Hughes.

In 1955, the Sears Roebuck & Co. department store placed an ad in a Colorado Springs newspaper with a phone number for kids to call and speak to Santa.

In that year the phone number posted was for the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, which has since become the North American Aerospace Defense Command. A tradition began which continued when NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958.

Nearly 2,000 volunteers answered over 100,000 calls from around the world.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were flown from the North Pole to Akron Children’s Hospital on ‘Air Bear, ‘ the hospital’s medical helicopter for a special visit on Thursday.

There will be lots of eyes on Santa and his reindeer as he makes his way around the world but as any elf will tell you, St. Nick won’t be coming down the chimney until everyone is sound asleep.

Most kids usually called in asking when Santa was going to be at their house.

The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese. Under the orders of Director of Operations Colonel Harry Shoup, radar dishes were turned north, toward Santa, and soldiers were instructed to report Santa’s position to any child who called.

NORAD is responsible for defending the skies and monitoring the sea approaches for both nations. Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+.

NORAD also has apps for iOS, Android and Windows.

The NORAD Santa Tracker is shown in this screen shot.