COLORADO SPRINGS — NORAD is getting ready for its biggest mission of the year, tracking Santa Claus. A hangar at Peterson Space Force Base is now the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center.
On Christmas Eve, more than 1,000 volunteers will answer phone calls from around the world as NORAD keeps children up to date on Santa's whereabouts.
NORAD officials gave some advice Wednesday on what goodies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.
"We always encourage the families to put out the kind of food that they enjoy eating whether that's non-dairy milk or (a) chocolate chip cookie, or whatever kind of snack they enjoy, we encourage them to put that on the table for Santa," said Preston Schoachter with NORAD Public Affairs.
In 1955, a child called the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center (CONAD) in Colorado Springs asking for Santa. The child had this unlisted number because a newspaper ad had misprinted a Santa hotline phone number.
The Air Force Colonel went along with the child's call and gave the order to track Santa and keep him safe. NORAD took over operations when it was formed in 1958.
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