noradsanta.org — For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. 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.
Dec 19, 2006 View in Crawl 4
voltreeDec 20, 2006
The training value for the Norad folks must be priceless - thousands of phone calls from excited children asking all manner of questions about Santa, and needing the information immediately... excellent preparation for the fog of war...Seriously, though, this is so cool it makes me want to have kids. Any hos wanna hook up?
aecarolDec 20, 2006
In the late 80's I worked at the NORAD Alaskan ROCC (Regional Operational Control Center) and we had a special Christmas tape we'd run on Christmas Eve. It was really just a carefully prepared training tape of simulated radar data. It had a "track" for Santa synced to a script our public relations officer would use.The local news would be allowed to film one of the consoles playing back the tape and interview a controller.Every hour we'd have an update on a mysterious track we'd picked up on radar, then we'd send F15s (of course not really), then we'd "identify" it as Santa and escort it.I still have the script somewhere in my office.
hinesjaDec 20, 2006
Our tax dollars hard at work. This site is great...I can't imagine how much they spent putting this together.
chupathingyDec 20, 2006
"NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Hundreds of volunteers spend part of their Christmas Eve at the Santa Tracking Operations Center answering phones and emails to provide Santa updates to thousands of inquiring children worldwide."
poserdadDec 20, 2006
Hmmm, free throws and beauty pagent???Heck no!!!Wash & Wax the car, clear the gutters & weed the yard. They have to earn that coal in their stockings!!! ;-)mmmwwaaaha ha ha (dasterdly laugh)
shortiesDec 20, 2006
It has nothing to do with people being offended, it has to do with Tax dollars paying for religious holiday related work.
looselipsDec 24, 2006
No matter how innocent and seemingly harmless this " Santa prank" may appear, it is in fact, still a lie.Remember lies that you were taught as a child.How did they make you feel?Lying is bad even for an atheist like me.When the lies come from trusting parents, government representatives, clergy or any other "credible" source, then the lie is especially damaging.Time and time again we will back up and reaffirm these lies to children because we think the idea is cute, or proof of their innocence, or worse yet we are indoctrinating them with dogma or unsubstantiated claims that we believe to be true, even if only subconsciously. Does teaching superstitious stories as fact cause harm?It can if you are a child and you believe something you are told without question. Everyone teaches, everyone learns.Decide which of the following you will teach your children.Lucky horseshoeLucky rabbits footLeprechaunsGiantsPenniesWishesSantaand many others from <a class="user" href="http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/">http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/</a>Many of these seem foolish and funny, I know I might laugh if someone told me that they believed it without question.Do you really want your children to be laughed at when they tell others what Santa got them?Do something right and explain to them how somethings you told them are in fact, just lies.Explain a few more if you dare or let them find out for themselves.KarmaMagicGhostsGhost DetectorsZeusApolloMedusaSun GodEarth GodVishnuAllahPrayerJesusGodHoly SpiritSoulHellEvilHeavenStories do not equal proof, no matter who teaches it.Question everything and find your own answers, and make sure your children learn to do the same.
habitat2050Dec 25, 2006
this deuche bag has been to everyone single submission of this story pasting his same old athiesism bulls**t. I looked at your profile looselips, almost every article you digg has something to do with religion, and im not gonna bring up the one you submitted(athiest bumper stickers). You would think an athiest wouldn't really care that much about others religions so much as to see it fit to comment on a story that should hold no interest to you. Talk about free thinking and finding answers, explain why you think everyone else in the world should be an athiest cause obviously your goal is to deconvert every other religion. Oh look theres an article about athieism on the front page, go digg that one fast. Merry Christmas everyone!!!