US military reveals the unlikely reason it started famous Santa-tracking operation

One child's phone call 70 years ago set the stage for a military operation that now answers hundreds of thousands of calls in a single night as Santa journeys around the globe.

NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is a joint US-Canadian military organization that has been defending North America since the late 1950s using a mix of ground-based radars, satellites, and fighter aircraft. 

However, that same military unit responsible for defending the nation from airborne threats has also used their space-age equipment to track Santa Claus's journey after a mistake in a local newspaper.

In 1955, a newspaper ad in Colorado mistakenly printed a military hotline number instead of Sears' Santa Claus phone line, leading one child to call the top-secret Continental Air Defense Command operations center - NORAD's predecessor.

The duty officer, Colonel Harry Shoup, realized the wild mix-up and decided to have his team give 'Santa updates' to young callers, launching a beloved holiday tradition that has not turned into a high-tech satellite monitoring program on Christmas Eve.

The Daily Mail spoke to the NORAD Tracks Santa program manager, US Army Captain Alex Werden, who revealed that nearly 400,000 children will be calling the Colorado Springs base to find out where Santa is this year.

'Last year, our peak was between 5 and 7pm [Mountain Time]. Each of those two hours, we received just about 60,000 calls per hour,' Werden said.

Thanks to a major technological update in 2025, he added that children now have more ways to follow Santa's journey than ever before, including through their main phone hotline, 1-877-HI-NORAD.

To meet the massive demand for information on Santa's flight, this year's military tracking program has been upgraded with a fully web-based call center, web calling via Twilio, and Amazon Connect for better handling of global calls.

Since the Colorado base speaks with children from all nations, interpreters fluent in 200 languages provided by Interpreters Unlimited will also be available for international calls so the military can answer questions without language barriers. 

The Army captain added that 1,000 volunteers will also be on hand tonight, using laptops and headsets to answer calls, checking on Santa's real-time location on NORAD's tracking map, and telling callers exactly when he will reach their home.

'I'd say that the technologic solutions that we use and the capabilities that are provided to us by our contributors have certainly enabled the most modern call center experience yet,' Werden told the Daily Mail.

Kids can also visit the noradsanta.org website for a live 3D map, Santa-cam videos, and even a new web-based calling option that connects directly to NORAD volunteers, so children don't even have to wait on a phone this year.

'Up until this year, we've been using the same phone and headset setup since 2005,' Werden explained.

Mobile users can download free apps from the Apple App or Google Play stores to track Santa on the go, while those with Amazon Alexa can simply ask 'Where's Santa?' or press the blue OnStar button in GM cars for instant updates.

For extra fun, NORAD has rolled out OpenAI-powered activities like creating your own elf avatar or designing a dream toy on their website, and radio listeners can catch live reports on channels like SiriusXM's Kids Place.

This is Werden's first year leading the program, having joined NORAD and US Northern Command earlier in 2025, though he's been one of the many volunteers helping the operation in past years.

He also noted that the growing list of partners from the private sector over the years has allowed NORAD to keep running their Christmas operation without using a single dollar of taxpayer money from the Pentagon's budget.

As for how the militaries of the US and Canada are able to 'track' Santa's every movement, Werden claimed that NORAD uses real defense assets like the North Warning Radar System in northern Canada and Alaska to detect the sleigh's takeoff.

Infrared satellites orbiting 22,000 miles up that usually look for threats entering North American airspace are used to detect the heat signature from Rudolph's shiny nose.

Werden added that the Air Force's most formidable fighter jets, including F-15s, F-16s, F-22s, and F-35s, will be scrambled to 'escort' Santa over North America Wednesday night.

The program manager also hinted that some lucky children may have their call to NORAD answered by the first family this evening.

'For a few years, either the First Lady of the United States and or the President of the United States has received a few of these calls via NORAD,' Werden revealed.

However, the captain told the Daily Mail children who do call the hotline still need to be in bed between 9pm and midnight local time, because that's when Santa arrives at homes around the world, and only after kids have gone to sleep.