Once again the tradition continues as NORAD will be tracking Santa's movements on Christmas Eve for the 50th year. Using the North Warning Radar System and "Santa Cams", NORAD and their partners follow Santa's every move on his journey.
Then, NORAD deploys CF-18 fighters from Canada to escort him and take a few photos along the way. Make sure you sit down with the kids on Christmas eve and show them this resource.. it's very cool!
About Santa Cams
NORAD Santa Cams are ultra-cool high-tech high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many places around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year - Christmas Eve. They turn the cameras on about one hour before Santa enters a country then switch them off after they capture images of him and the Reindeer. They immediately download the images on to the web site for people around the world see. Santa Cams produce both video and still images.
When Santa Comes to North America
Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa, while in the United States American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. About a dozen NORAD fighters in Canada and the United States are equipped with Santa Cams.
NORAD captured this photo of Santa on a rooftop in 1956
Find out more info about NORAD's history tracking Santa as well as photos of Santa. On Christmas Eve the real-time tracking will start as Sanata makes his first stop in the South Pacific.
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