Technology wasn’t Santa’s best friend this morning, but in the spirit of Christmas, all is well now, according to NORAD.
The popular Santa Tracker that the good folks at the North American Aerospace Defense Command put out every holiday season, shared by television networks and online platforms around the world, suffered a bug on Christmas Eve. The live video for about an hour (see Santa’s travels above) could not provide specific locations for the Fatman and his reindeer.
Not that all is lost.
While the issue was being addressed, NORAD volunteers and live operators over the phone (yes 1-877-Hi-NORAD) and social media kept children and concerned parents informed of where Santa was and where he was going next. NORAD did not respond to an inquiry from Deadline today about what went wrong, but we’re giving them a pass today since they’re pretty busy.
Now in his 68th yeare This year, this self-described “special mission,” as Pentagon press secretary Gen. As Patrick Ryder mentioned a few days ago, approximately 1,000 US and Canadian military personnel are stationed at NORAD headquarters in Colorado as of 6:00 a.m. ET following Santa Claus’ journey. Worldwide. Online, the Santa Tracker also provided updates on the number of gifts St. Nick has delivered over the past decade.
The feed is available on the NORAD Santa website and app. Once a staple of radio updates, the stream is now being adopted by local television stations – such as ABC 7 in Chicago and Sky News in Europe – around the world and on YouTube.
The Santa Tracker began as a mistake in the middle of the Cold War in 1955 with a call from a child in Colorado trying to reach Santa Claus. Last year, the Santa Tracker received more than 73,000 calls and generated millions upon millions of views.
FYI: Santa makes sure our astronauts get presents too. According to NORAD, it is about five minutes from the visit to the orbiting International Space Station.
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
