How did NORAD’s Santa Claus tracker come about? It started with a wrong number

Santa Claus does the impossible every year on Christmas Eve, but following his journey live has only recently become a global tradition.

While it’s true that the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, maintains around-the-clock vigil and guards against potential threats to North American airspace, the agency has also been tracking Santa Claus, who has been feeding children around the world since 1955.

And it all started with an accidental phone call from a little boy from Colorado Springs hoping to get in touch with Santa Claus, they say. Instead he reached NORAD.

“He kept going a little bit, took a deep breath and then said, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa Claus,'” Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup told The Associated Press in a 1999 interview.