Santa's on his way! NORAD's tracking his sleigh

[Omaha Steve]

Source: USA Today

Trevor Hughes

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — The constant ringing of phones sounding like so many jingles of bells can mean only one thing: Santa is on his way.

Thousands of phone calls are pouring into NORAD Tracks Santa headquarters at this Colorado Air Force base as volunteers chart his progress around the globe.

Last year, trackers fielded more than 170,000 calls from around the world in this annual tradition.

"Where are you? Oh, Oklahoma? Well, Santa is coming your way between 9 and midnight tonight — as long as you're all asleep," volunteer Wendy Erlanger tells a young caller.

FULL story at link.

Video: http://usat.ly/16Rlt67




(Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/24/santas-on-his-way-norad/20875907/

[TexasTowelie]

1. Santa put Texas on his no-fly zone.

He was scared of getting shot down by the open carry activists.

[Omaha Steve]

4. PPPSSSSTTTT

Texas doesn't have open carry.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Why wait for a law to be passed?

If you see someone in a costume breaking into a house through a chimney then it's open season.

[freshwest]

12. Uh, I beg to differ. TT is right. But they wouldn't shoot Santy and the reindeer.

Nice to know NORAD is still up and running, too. It must be an unique experience for them to field calls from people.

Love the pictures at the link:



Happy Holidays, OS and Marta.

[jwirr]

2. Do they use the same phone number every year? My great grandchildren are getting old enough

to enjoy that. Wonderful service from NORAD. Thanks everyone.

[sheshe2]

3. Thanks for the Update Steve.

Merry Christmas to you and Marta~

[Omaha Steve]

5. I did Santa in 3 different malls for years

Maybe next year I'll post some of the news coverage of me on YouTube. File that away and remind me next Thanksgiving.

OS

[sheshe2]

10. I'll bet you were the best and kindest Santa ever Steve.

You have a big heart and it shows.

It's filed OS~

[freshwest]

14. I love it when people do things like that. Merry Christmas, Steve.

[freshwest]

13. Love Santa and the deers! That's a sweet pic! And thank you...

[sheshe2]

15. Love you! Ya, I like that picture.

Lol~ It's Christmas Day here.

Gotta sleep soon so I can be awake for brunch tomorrow!

Merry Christmas to you freshwest.

[branford]

7. I remember the controversy I believe started last year with the NORAD fighter exscort

for Santa's sleigh and other military additions to the Santa tracking experience. Despite the complaints, the little boy in me thought it was very cool (and I'm Jewish!).

I expect that by next year, due to risk of northern ISIS incursions and North Korean cyber-attack, we'll need to negotiate a status of forces agreement with Santa for boots on the ground in the North Pole, a missile shield battery, and special forces "advisers" to train the elves in advanced arctic warfare.


Happy holidays to all!

[Omaha Steve]

9. The Night the Reindeer Died

[branford]

11. Excellent!

Another good one is the "Red Sleigh Down" episode of South Park.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/250005

[Grassy Knoll]

8. ****Fox News Alert****

*** SANTA IS NOT WHITE ***
*** Some people "say" To shoot Him***
***Film at 11***

[roguevalley]

16. apparently, this is how it started. Some time back

someone printed a phone number for kids to call santa that was actually the red phone on the desk of the commander. He had little infants calling to speak to santa so he began the program of tracking santa for little kids and considered it the best thing he ever did. It was a misprint in the newspaper. It was on NPR.

[father founding]

17. STOP IT

Everybody knows that there really is no Santa Clause, right ?

[Bryce Butler]

18. There's no Santa?