Thursday, January 2, 2014

Tracking Santa on Christmas

Every Christmas NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, tracks Santa on his flight around the planet on Christmas Eve. I, myself, had logged onto their site to track the big guy's progress.

How did this all get started? I never really thought about it, but this year the answer became clear while reading an article in a Federal Employees publication. 

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

Compiled by Jack Moore

The North American Aerospace Defense Command — or NORAD — first began tracking Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve by mistake. In 1955, Sears placed a newspaper ad that encouraged children to Santa's private phone line to chat with the jolly old elf. The only problem? The ad contained a typo that instead led to the private for NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). When Col. Harry Shoup, the officer on duty began receiving calls from curious kiddies, he decided to play along.
(Source: The Atlantic)
From Mike Causey's Federal Report

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/20/3529019/Will-a-buyout-be-in-your-stocking


And so, it appears, a DoD agency began tracking Santa because of a mistake.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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