If you’re wondering whether Santa has left the North Pole yet, NORAD has it covered.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been tracking Santa’s worldwide journey for 70 years, and the tradition is still going strong. According to NORAD’s John Ingle, kids can start following Santa’s flight beginning at 4 a.m. Mountain Time on Dec. 24.
Want to hear Santa’s location straight from NORAD? Call 1-877-HI-NORAD, where about 1,000 volunteers are standing by to answer calls in roughly 200 languages. No phone? No problem. You can also use a calling feature directly on the website.
And yes, the tracking is very official. NORAD uses ground-based radars, the North Warning System stretching from Alaska to eastern Canada, and satellites orbiting 22,000 miles above Earth. Those satellites rely on infrared sensors to detect heat signatures, including missile launches, and Rudolph’s glowing red nose!
Ready to see where Santa is right now? You can track his sleigh live here: https://www.noradsanta.org.
