HOLIDAY BULLETIN — SANTA’S SLEIGH DEPARTS THE NORTH POLE

WORLD NEWS

Friday, December 24th, 2010 at 7:56 am |

By Joe Brooks

NORTH POLE (WIREUPDATE) — Santa takes off on his sleigh as children around the world await their presents. NORAD announced early Friday morning that Kris Kringle, also known as Santa Clause, was given clearance to depart from the North Pole International airport. His first destinations include several islands in the west Pacific.

Santa’s 24 hour journey is expected to take him to all cities around the globe. Of course, as announced earlier this month, he will be skipping Washington D.C. this year due to all the naughty boys and girls living in the city.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began tracking Santa’s yearly gift-giving trip using their advanced radar technology in 1955.

“Every Christmas Eve, we begin receiving reports from the Western Air Defense Sector at McChord Air Force Base concerning erratic blips on their radar screens,” said Major Melinda Lepore, an Oregon Air National Guard spokesperson. “Because our F-15 aircrews are on continuous alert, they may be ordered airborne to investigate anything that we can’t readily identify on radar.”

The agency upgraded their capabilities in 1998 and began streaming “Santa Cam” live on the internet to millions of viewers world-wide. This year Santa’s locations can be monitored on Google Maps or through status updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Update: We have been made aware that Washington D.C. has been added back to Santa’s schedule.

-- 2010-12-24

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html