Transcript

(Q) Is there a Santa Claus?

(A) Well, mounts of intelligence plus over 60 years of NORAD tracking indicate that Santa is live and well in the hearts of the people.

Hi, I’m Captain Ticky, Senior Director at the Canadian Air Defence Sector here in 22 Wing North Bay and I will be doing the 60 Seconds With.

(Q) So, how does NORAD track Santa?

(A) Well, NORAD tracks Santa the same way that we do our home defence tracking through radars. We have a North Warning System that’d pick up Santa, and then we move to satellites. They use infrared, and the IR can

see heat. And as a result, it picks up on Rudolph’s big red nose as a pretty big signature. Then, we move to the fighter jets. Santa likes pilot to pilot interaction, so our CF-18 pilots would come to see him and escort him through Canada. Finally, we have the Santa cams which are positioned all throughout the world. We only use them on December 24th.

(Q) How did NORAD came up with tracking Santa?

(A) Well, in 1955, a young boy accidentally called the continental Air Defence operation centre, dialing a misprinted number that was in a department store advertisement, and the commander there, Colonel Shoup, realized what was going on, assured the boy that we would track Santa that December 24th, and we’ve done that ever since then.

(Q) How do you feel working in the evening of December 24th?

(A) Well, if I had to work December 24th, there’s nothing I rather do than keeping the NORAD Tracks Santa’s spirit alive for hopefully another 60 years.

(Q) How could people track Santa?

(A) Well, you could track Santa by visiting www.noradsanta.org or calling 1-877-HI-NORAD or visiting our social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter or the NTS app.

That’s it. Happy holidays.