Every Dec. 24, North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, detects an unusual blip on its radars.
On Christmas Eve, an object flying “faster than twilight” measuring an estimated 75 candy canes long, 80 lollipops wide and weighing in at 75,000 gumdrops rockets through North American air space, according to data on NORAD's website. American F-22s and Canadian CF-18s quickly scramble to get eyes on the target.
As they fly alongside the object, a chubby man in a red and white suit lifts a gloved hand off the reins of his flying reindeer piloting his sleigh to wave at the jets. It's Santa Claus, a close ally, and NORAD will track him every step of his journey to deliver presents to nearly 2 billion children worldwide.
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NORAD's mission, to monitor and protect Canadian and United States air space, is not widely known to most American civilians and, especially, not understood by most children. But since 1955, when NORAD was first known as the Continental Air Defense Command, following and tracking Santa Claus' journey around the globe has become a long-standing tradition for civilians and service members alike.
It started when a young child accidentally misdialed a department store advertisement and called the unlisted number, which rang the CONAD's operational call center in Colorado Springs.
Col. Harry…
