Washington: Santa Claus is coming to town — and the organization responsible for monitoring North American airspace is helping your kids track him as he completes his whirlwind journey around the globe.
The Santa tracker set up by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), a US-Canada joint operation, said that at 1515 GMT, Santa and his overworked reindeer had just passed over the Philippines’ capital Manila.
The website, www.noradsanta.org, is available in eight languages and allows children to find Santa’s location and upcoming stops on his trip. It also tracks the number of presents left for children. So far? More than 1.2 billion.
After leaving the North Pole, Santa will criss-cross the world until 0900 GMT today, when all the gifts will have been placed under Christmas trees. NORAD normally has the very serious task of protecting the United States and Canada, detecting any attacks from the air or the launching of nuclear weapons. But each year, it uses its powerful technology to provide Christmas cheer.
NORAD pulls out all the stops to locate Saint Nick, stopping at no fewer than four high-tech systems: radar, satellites, “Santa Cams” and, yes, fighter jets. After all, Santa travels “faster than starlight”.
“We’re the only organisation that has the technology, the qualifications, and the people to do it. And, we love it! NORAD is honored to be Santa’s official tracker!” NORAD says on its website.
To avoid disappointing the little ones, the 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. And it warns children that Santa’s route “can be affected by weather”. AFP
