(WWJ) Santa Claus is coming to Metro Detroit, but how far away is he?
As of about 9:15 a.m. on Christmas Eve; he and his reindeer were flying over Japan and had already delivered over 1.5 billion gifts, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa tracker.
WHERE IS SANTA? FIND OUT VIA NORAD TRACKER HERE
Millions of children follow Santa’s journey via the NORAD Santa tracker, available in nine different languages. It all started in 1955, when a kid dialed the wrong number, and an Air Force Colonel at NORAD picked up.
The boy began to recite his Christmas list, paused and said—“Wait, you’re not Santa.” The Colonel said, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?”…and the kid passed the number to ‘tons of other kids’ who called and kept calling.
“Instead of filing harassment charges, NORAD leaned into it and here we are almost seventy years later,” NORAD said in their press release.
“NORAD monitors and defends North American airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year," they said. "On Dec. 24, NORAD has one additional mission: tracking Santa Claus as he makes his way across the globe delivering presents to children.”