Former Beatle Joins with NORAD to Track Santa

Nov. 24, 2003

By NORAD Public Affairs

Exactly a month before Christmas Eve, the men and women of NORAD are proud to announce that Ringo Starr is their honorary Santa tracker for Christmas 2003.

"Santa and I are personal friends," said Ringo from his home in England. "He's asked me to do this special job with this incredibly new SantaCam and I'll be tracking him as he comes over Great Britain."

NORAD technicians upgraded the omni-directional high-speed digital SantaCam stationed in Great Britain and have moved it from Stonehenge to a Top Secret hideaway near Ringo's home.

"Ringo recently received Santa Tracking techniques from NORAD technicians and has become an expert in the use of the SantaCam," said Major-General Angus Watt, Director of Operations for NORAD. "We hope he'll capture images of Father Christmas somewhere in Great Britain this year."

As an added attraction this year, visitors to NORAD's Santa Tracking website will hear some of Ringo's Christmas music including "I Wanna Be Santa Claus."

"Children will see amazing things," said Ringo. "I'm privileged to be one of the Santa Trackers."

NORAD is a bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for the air defense of North America. NORAD has jet fighters on alert throughout North America, supported by air-to-air refueling tankers, airborne and ground-based radar, surveillance systems and satellites.

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