Il North America Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is ready to follow and protect Santa's journey. The NORAD Tracks Santa (www.noradsanta.org) was officially reopened today with a countdown set for December 24th.
The site is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.
NORAD Tracks Santa is an application also available for smartphones and tablets. Starting from the early hours of December 24th, users from all over the world will be able to follow Santa's preparations, checking his journey with real-time images thanks to the entire satellite network of the National Reconnaissance Office, for the occasion used to protect and monitor “White Beard”, codenamed “Big Red One”. But the entire United States Intelligence Community is at the service of the "North Pole" command.
The F-22s, from December 24th, will always be in flight to guarantee the sled a safe air corridor, while Tier-1 and CIA teams will welcome elves all over the world on the ground: in this way they will be able to deliver gifts to children quickly and safely. Always in flight the "Task Force Red", a SAR Force formed exclusively by elements of the Delta Force and ready to intervene should it be necessary to exfiltrate the elves in difficulty.
In five locations around the globe (plus another four in reserve, but covered by secrecy), reindeer refueling points have been set up by the Marines. The US Navy will provide support with the battleships of the aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Ronald Reagan and USS George Washington. The Aegis systems of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers will from time to time protect the airspace. Also formed the "Task Force Santa Claus" with the entire "Los Angeles" force deployed.
It all started in 1955. A Colorado Springs merchant invited the children to call Santa Claus and gave them a phone number to advertise. Unfortunately for the merchant, the number provided was the North American Aerospace Defense Command number. On the night of December 24, 1955, they received thousands of phone calls from NORAD and the commander of the base, Colonel Harry Shoup, in full Christmas spirit and amazing everyone, receiving the green light from the secret services, ordered his men to give, to how many had called, the exact location of Santa Claus. That day "NORAD Tracks Santa" was born. To date, what remains an entertainment program involves hundreds of thousands of children around the world, with 110 phone calls and over 40 emails received last year.
NORAD Tracks Santa is a h24 monitored application from the US Defense, created in collaboration with government agencies, secret services and sponsors such as NASA, Google and Facebook, to name a few. Beyond the sympathy or less that can be felt for American politics, the NORAD Tracks Santa is dedicated to children around the world and to their dreams.
