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NORAD tracks Santa Claus across the globe

The Associated Press and 660News staff Dec 24, 2009 12:59:16 PM

Santa Claus is making steady progress in his trip across the world.

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To track his progress, click here for the official NORAD Santa Tracker. He can also be tracked on Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps.

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The North American Aerospace Defence Command, or NORAD, has tracked Santa's progress every Christmas Eve since 1955.

On Thursday morning, the military installation in Colorado showed Santa having visited parts of Asia and Australia and moving westward.

NORAD usually monitors threats against the United States and Canada, but turns its radars on Santa each holiday.

Major Arthur Henry at NORAD tells 660News, they're thrilled to be part of the tradition of welcoming Saint Nick to Canadian airspace.

He adds it's a very important job and when they get special visitors coming across like Santa it's very exciting.

The tradition started more than 50 years ago when a newspaper ad for the department store Sears-Roebuck told children to dial a number if they wanted to talk to Santa.

But the number was one digit off. When the first call came to NORAD's predecessor, a colonel told an eager child he would check the radars for Santa.

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