Ask SAM_ NORAD's Santa tracker
Q: When did NORAD start tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve?
T.P.
Answer: NORAD — the North American Aerospace Defense Command — has been keeping track of St. Nick since even before there was a NORAD.
The air defense group uses satellites, radar and a ground-based sensor system to monitor the North American airspace for signs of rockets, missiles, planes — anything that flies.
The tradition of Santa-watching started with NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command, or CONAD, back in 1955, when, as NORAD’s website puts it, “A Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number.”
Part of the ad copy read:
“Hey Kiddies! Call me Direct... Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day or night, or come in and visit me at Sears Toyland — Santa Claus”
Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. The operations director at the time, Col. 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, and a tradition was born. NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958 and took over the tradition. Shoup, who died in 2009, was designated “NORAD’s First Santa Tracker.”
No government money is used for the Santa-tracking operation, according to NORAD’s website. The tracking is done with the help of volunteers and corporate partners who cover expenses. The tracking headquarters is Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
The website www.noradsanta. org keeps track of Santa’s progress around the world on Christmas Eve. NORAD also offers official mobile tracking apps through links on that website.
There has been some controversy in the past when NORAD showed two fighter jets escorting Santa, which some people felt was adding a violent message. NORAD disagreed, with a spokesman saying that “we really do feel strongly that it’s something that is safe and non-threatening” and pointing out that it had been depicting jets accompanying Santa and his reindeer since the 1960s.
On its website, NORAD points out that although it tracks Santa, only Santa knows his exact route, so they cannot predict when he will arrive at a specific house.
“We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep,” according to the website. “In most countries, it seems Santa arrives between 9:00 p.m. and midnight on December 24th. If children are still awake when Santa arrives, he moves on to other houses. He returns later … but only when the children are asleep!”
Q. Can I put wrapping paper and gift boxes in the curbside recycling containers?
E.B.
Answer: Yes for plain boxes but no for gift wrap.
People should not burn wrapping paper in the fireplace. A lot of the coloring on the paper comes from lead, copper and other metals, and burning the paper can release toxic gases.
Gift boxes that have foil decoration on the top but a white bottom should be separated, with the plain paper put into the recycling bin and the colored tops into the trash bin
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