Santa Claus Is Coming to Town: Children Throughout the World Use NORAD to Track Santa

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, CO--(Marketwire - December 23, 2008) - Members of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) are once again gearing up to track Santa Claus as he prepares to deliver toys and gifts to children throughout the world this Christmas. Children and their families can log on to their computers and track Santa's journey from the North Pole to their local chimney by logging on to Twitter.com and joining in a worldwide conversation about the holiday season including what cookies to leave for Santa.

This year, elves and other helpers at the North Pole have announced that Santa and Rudolph will guide their sleigh full of gifts approximately two hours later than in previous years. "For the past six years Santa and his reindeer have left the North Pole two hours earlier than they will this year," said Major Stacia Reddish, Program Manager of NORAD Tracks Santa. "Although Santa hasn't told us why he's leaving later, we think it may be due to the various bedtime hours around the world. We do know that Santa has often times had to circle back around the world because many children were not asleep when he first landed on their roofs," explained Major Reddish.

Over 1,000 Santa tracker volunteers will work at the NTS Operations Center to answer calls and e-mails from children wanting to know when Santa Claus might visit their home. A toll free number is available, 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) for children to call and personally speak to a Santa tracker on Christmas Eve. Or, children can send an e-mail to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com. In 2007, 1,012 volunteers answered 94,743 telephone calls and 10,326 e-mails from children around the world. This year, with so much excitement surrounding the Christmas Holiday, volunteers are anticipating even more calls and e-mails. Santa's travels can also be tracked by logging onto www.noradsanta.org. There will be up-to-the-minute reports on Google Maps and Google Earth and video captured by NORAD's Santa cams from several key stops will be available.

Information is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese.

For information, including pre-recorded or live interviews, please e-mail: nnc.pa.nts.omb@northcom.mil

Contact Information: Contact: Alyssa Nightingale 631.367.8599