-- 3 a.m. Pacific Standard Time
-- 4 a.m. Mountain Standard Time
-- 5 a.m. Central Standard Time
-- 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
-- 11 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time
The Web site, designed by Booz Allen Hamilton, allows fans of all ages to
get up-to-the-minute reports and streaming videos from key stops on Santa's
trip around the world. Google software will output live images from
NORAD's high-speed digital "Santa Cams," and Google Maps and Google Earth
will follow Santa as he travels around the world. All of this information
is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and
new this year, Chinese. In addition, for the first time, Canada Post will
partner with NORAD to ensure children around the world can send an email to
Santa through the NTS Web site. The NTS program is carried out with the
assistance of many corporate partners.
The NORAD Tracks Santa (NTS) program began on Dec. 24, 1955, after an
errant phone call was made to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD)
Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The call was from a local
youngster who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a local newspaper
advertisement. The commander who answered the phone that night gave the
youngster the information requested -- the whereabouts of Santa Claus.
This began the tradition of tracking Santa Claus, a tradition that was
carried on by NORAD when it was formed in 1958. This Christmas marks the
50th anniversary of NORAD tracking Santa Claus as he goes around the world
delivering presents.
The NTS program has grown immensely since first presented on the Internet
in 1998. In 2007, the Web site received 10.6 plus million unique visitors
from 212 countries and territories. In addition, the NTS Operations
Center, occupied by 1,012 volunteers on Christmas Eve, answered nearly
95,000 phone calls and received 140,000 emails from families around the
world.
Contact Information: Contact: Alyssa Nightingale 631.367.8599 anight@att.net