Colonel Shoup’s Sleigh Ride! North American Aerospace Defense Command Still Tracks Santa Claus

AutoInformed.com

Colonel Harry Shoup in a slightly faster sleigh.

This sleigh ride started with a misprint: In 1955 a Sears Roebuck & Company advertisement asked kids to call Santa at what was a wrong phone number. The Santa Claus number was actually the hotline for the Commander-in-Chief of  the U.S.’s Continental Air Defense Command operation center.

At the height of the Cold War, the Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, in what appears to be the result of a clear understanding on the military’s part of what was one of the things they were willing to fight and die for.  

AutoInformed.com

Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus...

In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a combined air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa.

Since then, NORAD members, along with family and friends, volunteer their time to respond to phone calls and e-mails from children around the world. NORAD now tracks Santa using the internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa’s whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website – http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html. You can also dial 877 HI-NORAD (877-446-6723) for Santa’s location.

Beginning at 6 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve, GM’s OnStar subscribers can press the blue OnStar button in their vehicles to request a “Santa Update.” OnStar advisors will share Santa’s whereabouts through 5 a.m. EST Christmas morning using NORAD’s tracking.

And Merry Christmas to all our military personnel, veterans, and their families, wherever you are.

About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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