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spanone

(135,841 posts) Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:11 PM Dec 2018

Sigh of Relief.....NORAD will still track Santa on Christmas Eve even if the government shuts down

whew....I was worried.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/government-shutdown-december-2018/h_b405d75d5e74735863127c0a02b43f80

12 replies

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Sigh of Relief.....NORAD will still track Santa on Christmas Eve even if the government shuts down (Original Post) spanone Dec 2018 OP

1500 people are involved in doing that?? oberliner Dec 2018 #1

It is done with volunteers. FSogol Dec 2018 #3

That seems like a lot of volunteers oberliner Dec 2018 #7

They are answering calls of children that call and ask about Santa in several languages. FSogol Dec 2018 #8

Did not realize the scope and scale of this massive deception oberliner Dec 2018 #9

I wonder how many the Russian Internet Research Agency hired for their massive deception? FSogol Dec 2018 #10

I already told my kids they wouldn't. Dave Starsky Dec 2018 #2

+1 Awesome parenting. I approve. Why does Trumpy hate Santa? FSogol Dec 2018 #6

I understand he can make it over walls. brooklynite Dec 2018 #4

Just wait till Trump hears about this. lpbk2713 Dec 2018 #5

Trump will declare Santa a migrant and have him shot down. Sneederbunk Dec 2018 #11

How it started... PSPS Dec 2018 #12

oberliner

(58,724 posts)

1. 1500 people are involved in doing that??

Reply to spanone (Original post)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:12 PM

Dec 2018

That seems slightly insane.

FSogol

(45,488 posts)

3. It is done with volunteers.

Reply to oberliner (Reply #1)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:18 PM

Dec 2018

From Norad's website:

Every year on December 24, fifteen hundred volunteers staff telephones and computers to answer calls and e-mails from children (and adults) from around the world. Live updates are provided through the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site (in seven languages), over telephone lines, and by e-mail to keep curious children and their families informed about Santa’s whereabouts and if it’s time to get to bed.

oberliner

(58,724 posts)

7. That seems like a lot of volunteers

Reply to FSogol (Reply #3)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:21 PM

Dec 2018

I didn't realize it would take that many people to accomplish this task.

It's not entirely clear to me what the task entails since they are "monitoring" something that is not actually happening.

FSogol

(45,488 posts)

8. They are answering calls of children that call and ask about Santa in several languages.

Reply to oberliner (Reply #7)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:25 PM

Dec 2018

They'll get 140,000 calls on Christmas Eve. It is outsourced to volunteers in a non-centralized call network. They aren't all sitting in a bunker at NORAD scanning the radar.

oberliner

(58,724 posts)

9. Did not realize the scope and scale of this massive deception

Reply to FSogol (Reply #8)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:40 PM

Dec 2018

FSogol

(45,488 posts)

10. I wonder how many the Russian Internet Research Agency hired for their massive deception?

Reply to oberliner (Reply #9)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:42 PM

Dec 2018

Dave Starsky

(5,914 posts)

2. I already told my kids they wouldn't.

Reply to spanone (Original post)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:16 PM

Dec 2018

I told them that if Santa's sleigh gets shot down or crashes and burns this year, they have only President Trump to blame.

This, of course, made them cry. They now hate President Trump with a burning passion that I hope will last them the rest of their lives. Particularly if they see that Santa didn't bring them anything tomorrow.

FSogol

(45,488 posts)

6. +1 Awesome parenting. I approve. Why does Trumpy hate Santa?

Reply to Dave Starsky (Reply #2)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:19 PM

Dec 2018

brooklynite

(94,585 posts)

4. I understand he can make it over walls.

Reply to spanone (Original post)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:18 PM

Dec 2018

lpbk2713

(42,757 posts)

5. Just wait till Trump hears about this.

Reply to spanone (Original post)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 03:18 PM

Dec 2018

Heads will roll.

Sneederbunk

(14,291 posts)

11. Trump will declare Santa a migrant and have him shot down.

Reply to lpbk2713 (Reply #5)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 04:10 PM

Dec 2018

PSPS

(13,599 posts)

12. How it started...

Reply to spanone (Original post)

Fri Dec 21, 2018, 04:20 PM

Dec 2018

Last edited Mon Dec 24, 2018, 04:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Back in 1955, a Sears-Roebuck store placed an advertisement in The Gazette in Colorado Springs telling children to dial a number if they wanted to talk to Santa Claus. The advertisement went along the following lines:

"Hey kiddies, do you want to talk to Santa? Dial this number..."

Nice idea! But the telephone number that was printed was incorrect - just one digit was missing. On Christmas Eve 1955 a little girl decided that she would like to talk to Santa Claus and phoned the number given in the newspaper. The small typographical error resulted in a big mistake. The telephone number was actually for the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The call from this little girl in Colorado Springs was answered by Colonel Harry Shoup. She told him that she wanted to know the whereabouts of Santa Claus. Had he been a lesser man, Col. Shoup might well have just replied that she had got the wrong number but instead he told her that he would check the RADAR. There were many other calls from kids that Christmas Eve all answered by the staff who were on duty at CONAD. Colonel Harry Shoup would later be referred to as 'Santa Colonel'. The tradition of tracking Santa Claus had started.

The tradition started by CONAD was continued by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) when it was formed in 1958. It was an excellent Public Relations exercise which continues to gain pace and fresh innovations more than 50 years after it began.

This remarkable story is used to introduce this film from the Bell System Archive about its role in the Cold War era:

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