• Home

The Complete Pilgrim - Religious Travel Sites

Howard Kramer's, The Complete Pilgrim, Religious Travel Site

  • AMERICAN RELIGIOUS SITES
  • CHRISTIAN SITES
  • JEWISH SITES
  • CATHOLIC SITES
  • ISLAMIC SITES
  • INDIAN/HINDU SITES
  • HOLIDAY SITES
  • CASTLES
  • BATTLEFIELDS
  • MOUNTAINS
  • NATURE
  • WILDLIFE SITES
  • PHOTO GALLERIES
  • ARCHIVES
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NORAD HEADQUARTERS

October 16, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

Colorado Springs, Colorado

NORAD Santa Logo (wikipedia.com)

NORAD Santa Logo (wikipedia.com)

One of the world’s strangest Christmas Eve traditions, and in recent years one of the most popular, is the online Santa Claus Tracker.  Sponsored and maintained by volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, the Santa Claus Tracker is Christmas Eve’s most popular website as millions of children around the world eagerly check the site for updates on Santa’s current location.  Running for a 24-hour period beginning at 2:00am Mountain Time, NORAD’s dedicated volunteers track Santa Claus from the North Pole around the world to his final destination in Hawaii.  The NORAD website now receives more than a billion hits annually during that 24-hour period.

The NORAD Santa Claus Tracker began by accident in 1955, when a Sears store in Colorado advertised a phone number which local children could call and talk to Santa Claus.  However, the newspaper advertisement displayed the incorrect phone number, which was in fact the hotline number for the Operations Director at CONAD (the predecessor of NORAD).  Colonel Harry Shoup, the officer in charge, quickly realized the mistake after the first few phone calls.  Figuring they were in for a long night, Shoup ordered his staff to take the calls and update the eager children with Santa Claus’ location.  And thus a major public relations tradition was born.

NORAD (wikipedia.com)

NORAD (wikipedia.com)

Over the next few years the military decided to repeat the fortuitous accident, advertising their own Santa hotline.  Its popularity grew, and within a few years a NORAD Tracking Operations Center was established in Colorado Springs, staffed by volunteers from Peterson Air Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain.  In 1997, the Santa Claus Tracker migrated to the World Wide Web, where it has been an internet sensation every Christmas Eve since.  As of 2006, just a year after its 50th anniversary, the Santa Claus Tracker generated over half a million phone calls and over a billion web hits from over two hundred countries and territories.  A peek at the Santa’s location online has now become almost as popular a Christmas Eve tradition as leaving milk and cookies out for the big man himself.

The NORAD Santa Tracking Operations Center is located in Colorado Springs, about sixty miles south of Denver.  Although it is staffed by volunteers and some visitors are permitted, it is generally off-limits to the general public as it is part of a major military installation.  However, the real fun, obviously, is following Santa’s progress on the web, which of course can be done from any computer on the planet.  Web: www.noradsanta.org (official website of the NORAD Santa Tracker)

Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: US-Southwest

Where would you like to go?

Africa (North) Africa (Sub-Sahara) Arabia Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia Australia/Pacific Austria/Switzerland Balkans Belgium/Netherlands British Isles Canada Caribbean Central Asia China Czech Republic Egypt France Germany Greece Hungary/Romania/Bulgaria India (NE)/Nepal India (NW) India (South)/Sri Lanka Iran/Iraq Israel Italy/Malta Japan/Korea Latin America Mexico Palestine Poland/Lithuania Russia Scandinavia Southeast Asia Spain/Portugal Syria/Jordan/Lebanon Turkey/Cyprus Ukraine US-California US-Mid Atlantic US-Midwest US-New England US-New York US-Pacific Northwest US-South US-Southwest

About Howard Kramer

Howard Kramer is the creator and author of The Complete Pilgrim. He first took an interest in religious sites in his early twenties when traveling through Italy after college. In the two decades since he has traveled to more than two dozen countries and almost every state, visiting and photographing hundreds of the world’s greatest churches, synagogues and other places of religious interest. Howard has been writing about religious sites for the better part of the last decade, and The Complete Pilgrim is a culmination of years of his work and passion.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

THE COMPLETE AMERICAN PILGRIM – NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

THE COMPLETE PILGRIM

Welcome to The Complete Pilgrim(TM)! This site, created by Howard Kramer, is a combination travel blog and online guide to the world's greatest sites of religious interest (with some historic and recreational places thrown in for good measure). All written content has been originally researched and produced and is provided free for public research and enjoyment. Thank you for visiting!

Site of the Week

WITTENBERG CASTLE CHURCH

WITTENBERG CASTLE CHURCH

Wittenberg, Germany The … [Read More...]

Friends of TCP Spotlight

5 PLACES TO VISIT IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA – MUSLIM TRAVEL ROCKS

5 PLACES TO VISIT IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA – MUSLIM TRAVEL ROCKS

by Glory Ali The City of Brotherly Love offers tons to see and do and get this, it’s FREE. That’s right you heard it right it’s FREE. Click here for complete article  

MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM – FAITH IN FAITHS

MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM – FAITH IN FAITHS

by Mary Neuhauser President Trump recently announced his intentions to move the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel. The purpose of this article is to give you a brief overview of what this decision means and why it matters. Click here for […]

Photo of the Week

BASILICA OF ST. DENIS

Last month, I visited one of the most fascinating churches I have ever been to, the almost completely ignored Basilica of St. Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris.  Almost every French monarch is buried here, and almost nobody goes here.  Here are some pics I took:

Basilica of St. Denis

Tomb of Clovis

Tomb of Clovis

Tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Tomb of Louis XIV The Sun King

Tomb of Louis XIV The Sun King

Royal Tombs

Royal Tombs

The Crypt

The Crypt

 

 

 

 

Follow us!

Where would you like to go?

Africa (North) Africa (Sub-Sahara) Arabia Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia Australia/Pacific Austria/Switzerland Balkans Belgium/Netherlands British Isles Canada Caribbean Central Asia China Czech Republic Egypt France Germany Greece Hungary/Romania/Bulgaria India (NE)/Nepal India (NW) India (South)/Sri Lanka Iran/Iraq Israel Italy/Malta Japan/Korea Latin America Mexico Palestine Poland/Lithuania Russia Scandinavia Southeast Asia Spain/Portugal Syria/Jordan/Lebanon Turkey/Cyprus Ukraine US-California US-Mid Atlantic US-Midwest US-New England US-New York US-Pacific Northwest US-South US-Southwest

Contact Us

Have a comment, a great photo or a religious site you'd like to nominate for the weekly spotlight? We would love to hear from you. Email us at hkramer@thecompletepilgrim.com.

About the Author

Howard Kramer is the creator and author of The Complete Pilgrim. He first took an interest in religious sites in his early twenties when traveling through Italy after college. In the two decades since he has traveled to more than two dozen countries and almost every state, visiting and photographing hundreds of the world’s greatest churches, synagogues and other places of religious interest. Howard has been writing about religious sites for the better part of the last decade, and The Complete Pilgrim is the culmination of years of his work and passion.

Return to top of page
Copyright © 2023 The Complete Pilgrim, LLC || Marietta, GA 30068 || Legal Disclaimers

Website by: Kristina McInerny, Notes From Kris, Inc.