An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

NORAD NEWS
News | Dec. 29, 2008

NORAD TRACKS SANTA MISSION A SUCCESS

By NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command announced today that Christmas Eve 2008 marked another successful year for NORAD Tracks Santa.

The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center kicked into high gear at 6 a.m. EST Dec. 24, 2008. More than 1,200 Santa tracking volunteers cycled through the center answering telephone calls and emails from children around the world wanting to get a fix on Santa Claus’ whereabouts. 73,872 telephone calls and 6,086 emails from around the world were answered in the center by a NORAD Santa tracker.

The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, garnered 8,785,186 unique visitors to the site since going live on Dec. 1, 2008, and received 15,828,663 visits. The website featured information about tracking Santa in seven different languages and was viewed by visitors from 225 countries and territories, which generated 63,056,261 pageviews of the site. The site featured an interactive Kid’s Countdown Village which included games and activities for children of all ages as well as the interactive Santa tracking map, which began Dec. 24.

“365 days a year, NORAD provides aerospace security for North America, and we are proud of our mission and what we accomplish. But Christmas Eve is always a special day for the personnel at NORAD who are able to bring this program of good will to children around the world,” said Air Force Maj. Stacia Reddish, NORAD Tracks Santa Project Officer. “We thank not only our many volunteers who answer phones and e-mails, but we wish to thank all our corporate partners as well for making this program possible. We are looking forward to tracking Santa again next year.”