Santa Claus undaunted by arctic explosion, US military says

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – U.S. military officials have assured worried kids that arctic explosions and a blizzard that devastated U.S. air operations this week won’t stop him. Santa makes his annual Christmas Eve flight.

“Every once in a while we have to deal with a polar tornado, but Santa lives year-round in a place in the Arctic, so he’s used to the weather,” said US Air Force Sergeant Major Ben Wiseman. , a spokesman for the North American Agency, said. Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, tracks the yuletide flight.

For 67 years, NORAD, a joint US-Canadian military command based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has provided travel photos and updates around the world. of the legendary character along with the main task of overseeing the aerospace and maritime release and air defense systems. alert.

The tradition of tracking Santa Claus dates back to the wrong printing of a department store phone number in a Colorado Springs newspaper in 1955 for children to call and talk to Santa. The number listed belonged to what was then known as Continental Air Defense Command.

A knowledgeable officer took the children’s calls and assured them that Santa, also known as Father Christmas or Saint Nick, was in the air and on schedule delivering presents to the little girls and good boy, flying on his reindeer-powered sleigh.

NORAD’s Wiseman says Santa doesn’t make an official flight plan, so the military is never sure exactly when he’s going to take off, nor his exact route, despite tracking equipment. Santa is active at 4 a.m. EST (09:00 GMT) on Fridays. NORAD website.

When the jolly old elf’s reindeer, Rudolph, turned on his shiny red nose, military personnel were able to locate him using a pink sensor, Wiseman said. foreign.

He added that US and Canadian fighter pilots escorted him through North America politely, and Santa slowed down to wave at them.