The North American Aerospace Command has a challenging, yet gratifying, mission -- tracking Santa Claus' location for millions of children.
After making stops in the South Pacific and Asia, Santa headed west to Europe and Afrida. Santa's sleigh reached Brussels, Belgium, at about 6 p.m. Eastern time; 10 minutes later, he reached Paris, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the air defense of the United States and Canada. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made his first stops in South America not too long after 9 p.m. Eastern time.
NORAD is in charge of the annual Christmas mission to keep children informed of Santa's worldwide journey. Last year, NORAD's Santa tracking center answered 94,000 calls and responded to 10,000 e-mails. About 10.6 million visitors went to the Web site.
According to the American Forces Press Service, NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955. It all started when a youngster's phone call erroneously reached what was then the Continental Air Defense Command operations center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
NORAD assumed the annual duties of taking kids' phone calls on Christmas Eve when it formed in 1958. This year marked NORAD's 50th anniversary of keeping kids updated on Santa's whereabouts as he delivers their Christmas presents.
"It is the most wonderful experience you can ever imagine to talk to children from literally all over the world who want to know where Santa is and "When is he going to be at my house?" Air Force Gen. Victor E. "Gene" Renuart said, according to the American Forces Press Service.
"Of course you always have to say, 'After you are asleep,'" Renuart said.
The "NORAD Tracks Santa" program has grown since it was introduced on the Internet in 1998.
According to NORAD, last year the Web site attracted 10.6 million visitors from 212 countries and territories.
Follow Santa's journey on Wednesday via live video feeds on the
NORAD Tracks Santa Web site. Or, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow updates using this address: http://www.twitter.com/noradsanta.
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