Phone lines ready for 2012 NORAD Tracks Santa

Monday December 24, 2012 4:30 AM

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) — Volunteers are pulling on their Santa hats, phone lines are set, and tracking screens are ready — NORAD Tracks Santa is primed for its 57th annual goodwill mission.

Santa trackers start taking calls early Monday, telling children — and some adults — when Santa is due at their house. The last shift won't end until nearly 24 hours later.

The number is 877-HI-NORAD or 877-446-6723.

Updates will be posted online (http://www.noradsanta.org), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/noradsanta) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/NoradSanta).

The operation is based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., home of the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

NORAD Tracks Santa began in 1955 when a newspaper ad listed the wrong phone number for kids to call Santa. They wound up calling the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.

©2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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