Countdown Begins to NORAD Santa Tracker

(NewsCore) - With Christmas fast approaching, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has started the countdown to its annual Santa tracker.

For more than 50 years the joint American and Canadian air defense command has kept an eye on Santa as he leaves his North Pole headquarters to deliver presents around the world -- keeping excited kids up-to-date on his exact whereabouts.

NORAD says it uses four high-tech systems to track Santa -- radar, satellites, Santa cams and fighter jets.

"Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allows our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa," it says.

Once the agency has compiled its data on December 24, the information is pushed into Google Maps and Google Earth so that families all over the world can follow Santa via a special NORAD website. And this year, fans can even track Santa with the official NORAD Tracks Santa app.

The tracking tradition dates back to 1955, when a Colorado newspaper advertisement printed a phone number to connect children with the cheerful Christmas icon that mistakenly directed them to NORAD's hotline.

To avoid disappointing the little ones, NORAD's director of operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, ordered his staff to check the radar to see where Santa might be and update the children on his location.

Last year, First Lady Michelle Obama took to the phones at NORAD, surprising children who called seeking information on the jolly man's journey.