Tracking Santa I

NORAD has a lot of sophisticated equipment to carry out its day-to-day role of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. We maintain a satellite system that can actually detect heat sources associated with a missile launch. A number of years ago we realized we could actually pick up the heat from the nose of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and that allows us to actually track Santa Claus's progress around the world. Additionally we have radar systems and satellites around the world, so all of these systems, as well as our NORAD fighters in Canada and the U.S., assist us with tracking Santa Claus.

How does Santa travel so quickly?

The one thing we have learned is that Santa has extremely sophisticated equipment, he's been doing this for centuries, clearly he can fly way faster than any jet we have. In fact he's been clocked up to 600 times the speed of sound. We're not sure how he does it. He has — I mean for instance, how do you fly around the world in an old wooden sleigh with 9 reindeer? It doesn't make a lot of sense, but clearly he has some Christmas magic that we don't understand and I think it's gonna take many years before we crack the Santa code.

NORAD’s satellite system tracks Rudolph’s red nose. image: NORAD

How difficult is it for NORAD to track something going that fast?

The primary way we can do that is through the satellite system, the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites. The way we track is we get continuous signals in geographic areas — [normally] we can't maintain a continual track but we do pick up the nose. Rudolph's nose. We've all heard the song about Rudolph's nose shining so bright, but what people don't realize is that it also emits a significant infra-red heat source and that heat source is enough for our satellites to maintain a sufficient lock during his 24-hour journey.

Do the reindeer have some sort of advanced propulsion system?

No, they seem to be everyday reindeer. The images we've picked up over the years show nine reindeer. The one in the front does have a red nose and seems to be smaller. We haven't figured out how reindeer can fly so fast and like I said, Santa Claus uses some technology that's very, very advanced and sophisticated, technology that we do not have. But the bottom line is it gets the job done on Christmas Eve.

Major Robertson (right) in the control center of NORAD.

Air speed is one thing, but has NORAD's tracking and imaging of Santa revealed anything about how he manages to deliver all those toys?

We've checked into this. At face value is doesn't seem possible, so we had some of our analysts take a look at this issue and they concluded that somehow Santa operates in a different time-space continuum. Clearly he cannot deliver millions of toys around the world in just 24 hours. He somehow functions in a different time-space continuum, perhaps for him it takes several months, several weeks but for us it only takes 24 hours. That's the only thing that makes any sense to us.

How do you know how many households Santa visits?

Again, we did some calculations and looked into that. Approximately 750 millions households is the estimate we had. Obviously it's difficult to come up with conclusive figures but based on geography and the number of households that believe in Santa Claus — because I think that's a key thing, I think you have to believe in Santa Claus for him to visit your house — we estimate 750 million households.

Could it be possible that Santa is not just one individual, but a succession of them, or multiple Santa clones?

From our research into Santa, we've concluded that there is one Santa Claus. This one person manages to do all these things in one Christmas Eve, and he is aided by nine reindeer for propulsion, clearly. We're not sure how he makes all these toys — obviously Toyland is a fairly well-known phenomenon — but the point is, on Christmas Eve he is solely responsible for delivering toys all over the planet. And he manages to do it every year and has done it for centuries.

NORAD fighter planes make visual identification of Santa Claus. image: NORAD

You would think Santa could employ stealth technology if he wanted to. Is Santa cooperating with NORAD?

What we do see every year is, usually we fly Canadian NORAD fighters up north to make a visual identification of Santa because Santa tends not to file flight plans with the FAA and as a result we're required to go and make an identification. When we do that and he travels so fast, he tends to slow down, waves to the pilots and then carries on his journey. So I'd say from that point of view he's happy that NORAD can see him. Um, we have some secrets too, on how we track Santa. Bottom line is he's very quick — that probably explains why kids don't see him on Christmas Eve. If you see him you're very lucky because he's very fast.

Does Santa need clearance to fly over certain protected airspace?

Most people would require clearance to enter specific areas but Santa Claus does his own thing. Bottom line is he's been around a long time, way before we existed. He's been doing this for centuries, he can pretty much go wherever he wants in the world. The technology he employs, the speed he travels, there's no limit to where Santa can go. So really from that point of view there is no history of him applying for applications for flying in specific areas. Santa will go where he wants to go. Wherever there's a kid that believes in him, Santa will go.

Does Santa use any protective clothing or gear to survive the elements?

We've looked into that. I mean if you travel at any kind of speed at that altitude, in cold winter weather, through snowstorms, you'd think you wouldn't be able to survive. A normal person wouldn't be able to survive those conditions, but all the images we have of Santa show him quite clearly in an open sleigh. The only thing he's wearing, the only protective clothing, is a big red suit with fur and so on, a big pair of boots and gloves. But other than that, he's driving along in the snow. He must have some kind of system that protects him from the elements, but we can't see any kind of technology that gives us a clue what it is.

Another key question is how Santa gets down the chimney. Any intelligence on that?

The chimney question is a very controversial issue — we've tried to address that on our web site. There's some technology being used that requires people to think outside the box, there's something we have no easy explanation for. But the bottom line is, the guy gets down the chimney. How he does it, I don't know. One thing we have learned is he does not need a chimney to get into a person's house to deliver toys. He can go through doors and windows like anyone else, but the bottom line is he gets in there, he delivers the toys and he's outta there. He's very efficient, very effective, and we can basically count on Santa doing the job.

From all your experience, what do you say to skeptics who don't believe in Santa?

Leaving cookies for Santa is a good idea

Well I think skeptics that don't believe in Santa Claus are missing out on a fantastic Christmas tradition. I think historically there's proof beyond doubt that there was an individual by name of St. Nicholas who started the tradition of delivering toys down chimneys and so on. What we believe based on our research is that St. Nicholas is probably Santa Claus, he was the initial Santa as it were. Somewhere along the line St. Nicholas (or Father Christmas or Santa — whatever you want to call him) seemed to find a way to deliver toys globally and has lived for 1500-years-plus. We can't explain that — I think there's some magic. There're a lot of things in this world that people don't understand but it doesn't mean to say that things don't exist. We see Santa every Christmas Eve and I think most children at home would agree that Santa does exist, for sure.