NORAD Tracks Santa

NORAD Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas-themed program in which North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) performs the tracking of Santa Claus, who leaves the North Pole to travel around the world on his mission to deliver presents to children every year on Christmas Eve. The program starts on December 1, but the actual Santa-tracking starts at midnight annually on December 24. It is a community outreach function of NORAD, and has been held annually since 1955.The program follows the tradition of the September 1897 editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" in the New York Sun.