NORAD Santa tracker 2015: Where is Father Christmas right now? Track Santa and his reindeer live as they fly over the world to deliver presents on Christmas Eve
Want to keep a close eye on exactly when Father Christmas will reach your chimney this year?
Well, you’re in luck: US air defence is lending their satellite and radar technology to kids hoping to track his progress across the globe live for the 60th year in a row.
Yes, really.
In an unlikely burst of festive jolliness from the otherwise no-nonsense North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD, for short), the agency is keeping a lookout on Santa’s sleigh radar.
Visit the tracker on Christmas Eve to get a live update on how many presents he’s delivered, where he was seen last and where he’s headed next.
NORAD’s been tracking Father Christmas for 60 years now, initially just with radar technology and a telephone hotline that impatient children could call to find out how far Santa had got. Nowadays, of course, the technology is far more advanced, with a hugely popular website powered by a whole host of radar and Nasa satellites.
Confused about how this odd-sounding tradition came to be? It all started with a typo.
In 1955 an advert misprinted the telephone number for kids wanting to call Santa. Instead of ringing up Father Christmas, the children were put through to NORAD predecessor CONAD’s commander-in-chief’s hotline.
Rather than dismiss the curious children as time wasters, the agency started checking their radar for news of Santa’s progress southwards from the North Pole – and has continued the tradition ever since.
How’s that for a heartwarming Christmas tale? (Or stroke of PR genius, if you choose to be a grinch about it.)