Record number of callers ask for Santa's whereabouts at NORAD

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955. That was the year a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline, but the number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.



The officers on duty played along and began sharing reports on Santa's progress. It's now a deep-rooted tradition at NORAD, a joint US-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control centre at Peterson.



Santa tracking volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado said on Saturday they fielded about 102,000 telephone queries beginning early on Saturday on his progress, breaking the previous mark of 80,000. First Lady Michelle Obama was among the volunteers. She took about 10 calls from her family's holiday vacation in Hawaii.

Officials said records set this year were likely generated by people passing the word as well as social media interest.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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