December 20, 2024 • 8 mins
Becky Farmer of US Northern Command gives us some insight on how they track the big guy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My wife is she's starting to stock up on snacks
and stuff for the holidays. We've got some family coming
in and uh, you know, some gatherings. So I open
up the cupboard and I see like all these you know,
chips and dips and crackers and you know, cheese spreads,
and I'm just like, this is this is heaven on Earth.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Baby, You're right here.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
And I'm starting awake in one eighty on the sixth,
So I'm going, oh, she's got all this stuff for
charcuterie boards, and I've got you know, meats and cheeses,
and she's like, those are not for today, those are
for next week.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Those are for Christmas Eve when my parents are here.
I love it though.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
That's great because that's why I love your when you
talk on that commercial that you're like, am I starting
before Christmas?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Nope? Now, because I'm eating right now. Absolutely, I gotta
pack on the pounds so I can lose them in
a couple of days. Hey, you're gonna break records.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Then over the Christmas holidays, Yeah, give me some Give
me a good charcuterie board with you know, a couple
of different kind of meats and cheeses and some olives.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh yeah, I have. Oh yeah, okay, I'm coming over.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, and you're welcome. I mean you've probably come when
I'm not home though, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
By the time i'm done, i'll need a week in money.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
That's right, That's right, all right, So let's continue the
discussion about the holidays. Excited about this one from NORAD,
the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Let's welcome in, Becky Farmer on the Legacy Retirement Group
dot com phone line. Becky, it's what little after five
o'clock in the morning. Thanks for getting up early today
for us.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Hey, it sure is that early, but I'm really happy
to be able to share about the NORRID Tracking Santa
program with your listeners today.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So that's you guys have been doing this for a
long I can remember this has been going on for
how long you guys at NORAD tracking Santa starting on
Christmas Eve?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
How long you guys been doing that.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We've been doing it since nineteen fifty five, So this
is our sixty ninth year.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Wow. That's impressive. That is really impressive.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So talk about where people if people have got kids
and grandkids, and they want to spend some time starting
on Christmas Eve. How does this when does this start
when you start officially tracking Santa and how can people
do it?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Great?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Well, we know from our sixty nine years of tracking
Santa that he typically takes off from the North Pole
right around six am Eastern time, and he starts at
the International dateline and works his way west over the globe.
And so there are several ways that people can track
along with noorad. Our official website is Norradsanta dot org
(02:34):
and that'll have the map and the tracker. We also
have Norrad tracks Santa mobile apps that are available on
you know, Android and Apple phones. And we're on social media.
Our handles on x, Twitter and Instagram are at Norrad Santa.
(02:54):
And then if you want to go old fashioned like
we did in nineteen fifty five, there's also the same
as that will get you to our call center and
that number is one eight seven seven Hi Norad or
eight seven seven four four six six seven two three.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Well, I was going to ask you how you tracked
Santa in the fifties, before the Internet and before apps
and smartphones. So at that time it was just that
you could make a phone call and they would tell
you precisely where Santa is.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That's exactly right. In fact, the program started as kind
of an accident. There was a misprint for a Santa
hotline in a sira's robut catalog, and so a child
called the misprinted number and accidentally connected to at that time,
Continental Air Defense Command Operation Center. And so an Air
Force colonel answered the phone, and the kid who called
(03:49):
wanted to talk to Santa, and the colonel didn't want
to disappoint the child, so he looked up at our complex,
you know, air map, and told the child where Santa
was at that time. And that's really how the traditions
got started.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That is what a great story. That is what a
what a happy accident. And then now sixty nine years later,
and I'm looking at your website Noradsanta dot org right
now it's just looks like a bunch of elves doing
some work in the North Pole. But you've got the
countdown to the Santa Tracker. I'm looking at three days,
twenty hours, forty seven minutes until you got to start
(04:24):
tracking Santa.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, and we've been you know, all of our systems
that we use to descend North American airspace, including satellite
and military aircraft and radars. You know, they're up and
running all the time, and so what we've been doing
is really shoring up all of those communication lines and
getting our call center ready. We've moved into a hangar,
(04:50):
actually an airplane hangar, and so we've got two different
rooms manned with phones. We've got the Internet, and we've
got plenty of partners who make all of the connections possible.
And starting on Christmas Eve, will have about fifteen hundred
volunteers manning the phones and the operations center ready to
(05:11):
answer questions. Last year, we received more than four hundred
thousand calls on December twenty fourth, and then you know
social media followers, about two million people took advantage of that,
and then that website that you're on right now had
about twenty million visits. So people do take advantage of
all the different ways that they can follow Santa's journey, speaking.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
With Becky Farmer, US Northern Command nor AD and tracking Santa.
You can do that at Nora Adsanta dot org. So
I've done this with my kids in the past that
are a little older now, but I recall that Santa
does not spend a lot of time in any one location.
Have you broken down because it's like he's in Boom,
(05:55):
He's in Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
For a blink of an eye due to the magic.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Of Santa, and then boom He's in Sinnati and then boom,
he's an Indie. It's like, literally, do you know how
long have you guys spent time? And kind of crunching
that data on how long he spends at any individual location.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
That's a great question. And while we can track him,
the time space continuum for Santa works a little bit differently,
and you know, by our calculations, he travels faster than
even Starlight because he's got so many stops. But what
we do know through historical data is that Santa will
(06:32):
typically arrive at someone counts between about nine pm and midnight,
but only if the kids are asleep. Yeah, so it's
very important that you know, kids go to bed on
time so that Santa can stop and he doesn't have
to pass over the house and then come back later
because he is keeping such a tight timeline.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I can't imagine being his schedule and that's got
to be brutal work and keeping him on task and
you folks at NORAD going to track him for us.
It's again Norradsanta dot org and real quick, Becky. On
a personal level, you're in Colorado Springs at Northern Command
a Norrad, but you called Westerville, Ohio your home.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yes, I'm a graduate of Westerville North High School classes
nineteen ninety seven and I I yeah, that's when. That's
how long I've been there. So it's it's been a
while since I've lived in Columbus, but it is always
my home.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Well, we're glad to connect with you, and that was
just by just by coincidence.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
We gave you a call and you said it's my home. Tech.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is there anybody you want to give a shout out
to you that's listening this morning?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Oh dear, well, I think my parents, Doug and Elena
Browell are listening, potentially my brother and sister in law
Nathan and Nibbi brow So good morning to all of you.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Very good there.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And also it's my understanding you're a Penn State graduate,
so you've got a little bit of a football game
that you're interested in tomorrow as well.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Oh dear, I certainly am interested. We will watch all
of the playoff games, and I won't go too far,
but I will say you know, I will be cheering
for all Big ten teams in the playoffs.
My wife is she's starting to stock up on snacks
and stuff for the holidays. We've got some family coming
in and uh, you know, some gatherings. So I open
up the cupboard and I see like all these you know,
chips and dips and crackers and you know, cheese spreads,
and I'm just like, this is this is heaven on Earth.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Baby, You're right here.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
And I'm starting awake in one eighty on the sixth,
So I'm going, oh, she's got all this stuff for
charcuterie boards, and I've got you know, meats and cheeses,
and she's like, those are not for today, those are
for next week.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Those are for Christmas Eve when my parents are here.
I love it though.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
That's great because that's why I love your when you
talk on that commercial that you're like, am I starting
before Christmas?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Nope? Now, because I'm eating right now. Absolutely, I gotta
pack on the pounds so I can lose them in
a couple of days. Hey, you're gonna break records.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Then over the Christmas holidays, Yeah, give me some Give
me a good charcuterie board with you know, a couple
of different kind of meats and cheeses and some olives.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh yeah, I have. Oh yeah, okay, I'm coming over.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, and you're welcome. I mean you've probably come when
I'm not home though, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
By the time i'm done, i'll need a week in money.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
That's right, That's right, all right, So let's continue the
discussion about the holidays. Excited about this one from NORAD,
the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Let's welcome in, Becky Farmer on the Legacy Retirement Group
dot com phone line. Becky, it's what little after five
o'clock in the morning. Thanks for getting up early today
for us.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Hey, it sure is that early, but I'm really happy
to be able to share about the NORRID Tracking Santa
program with your listeners today.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So that's you guys have been doing this for a
long I can remember this has been going on for
how long you guys at NORAD tracking Santa starting on
Christmas Eve?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
How long you guys been doing that.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We've been doing it since nineteen fifty five, So this
is our sixty ninth year.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Wow. That's impressive. That is really impressive.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So talk about where people if people have got kids
and grandkids, and they want to spend some time starting
on Christmas Eve. How does this when does this start
when you start officially tracking Santa and how can people
do it?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Great?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Well, we know from our sixty nine years of tracking
Santa that he typically takes off from the North Pole
right around six am Eastern time, and he starts at
the International dateline and works his way west over the globe.
And so there are several ways that people can track
along with noorad. Our official website is Norradsanta dot org
(02:34):
and that'll have the map and the tracker. We also
have Norrad tracks Santa mobile apps that are available on
you know, Android and Apple phones. And we're on social media.
Our handles on x, Twitter and Instagram are at Norrad Santa.
(02:54):
And then if you want to go old fashioned like
we did in nineteen fifty five, there's also the same
as that will get you to our call center and
that number is one eight seven seven Hi Norad or
eight seven seven four four six six seven two three.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Well, I was going to ask you how you tracked
Santa in the fifties, before the Internet and before apps
and smartphones. So at that time it was just that
you could make a phone call and they would tell
you precisely where Santa is.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That's exactly right. In fact, the program started as kind
of an accident. There was a misprint for a Santa
hotline in a sira's robut catalog, and so a child
called the misprinted number and accidentally connected to at that time,
Continental Air Defense Command Operation Center. And so an Air
Force colonel answered the phone, and the kid who called
(03:49):
wanted to talk to Santa, and the colonel didn't want
to disappoint the child, so he looked up at our complex,
you know, air map, and told the child where Santa
was at that time. And that's really how the traditions
got started.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That is what a great story. That is what a
what a happy accident. And then now sixty nine years later,
and I'm looking at your website Noradsanta dot org right
now it's just looks like a bunch of elves doing
some work in the North Pole. But you've got the
countdown to the Santa Tracker. I'm looking at three days,
twenty hours, forty seven minutes until you got to start
(04:24):
tracking Santa.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, and we've been you know, all of our systems
that we use to descend North American airspace, including satellite
and military aircraft and radars. You know, they're up and
running all the time, and so what we've been doing
is really shoring up all of those communication lines and
getting our call center ready. We've moved into a hangar,
(04:50):
actually an airplane hangar, and so we've got two different
rooms manned with phones. We've got the Internet, and we've
got plenty of partners who make all of the connections possible.
And starting on Christmas Eve, will have about fifteen hundred
volunteers manning the phones and the operations center ready to
(05:11):
answer questions. Last year, we received more than four hundred
thousand calls on December twenty fourth, and then you know
social media followers, about two million people took advantage of that,
and then that website that you're on right now had
about twenty million visits. So people do take advantage of
all the different ways that they can follow Santa's journey, speaking.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
With Becky Farmer, US Northern Command nor AD and tracking Santa.
You can do that at Nora Adsanta dot org. So
I've done this with my kids in the past that
are a little older now, but I recall that Santa
does not spend a lot of time in any one location.
Have you broken down because it's like he's in Boom,
(05:55):
He's in Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
For a blink of an eye due to the magic.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Of Santa, and then boom He's in Sinnati and then boom,
he's an Indie. It's like, literally, do you know how
long have you guys spent time? And kind of crunching
that data on how long he spends at any individual location.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
That's a great question. And while we can track him,
the time space continuum for Santa works a little bit differently,
and you know, by our calculations, he travels faster than
even Starlight because he's got so many stops. But what
we do know through historical data is that Santa will
(06:32):
typically arrive at someone counts between about nine pm and midnight,
but only if the kids are asleep. Yeah, so it's
very important that you know, kids go to bed on
time so that Santa can stop and he doesn't have
to pass over the house and then come back later
because he is keeping such a tight timeline.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I can't imagine being his schedule and that's got
to be brutal work and keeping him on task and
you folks at NORAD going to track him for us.
It's again Norradsanta dot org and real quick, Becky. On
a personal level, you're in Colorado Springs at Northern Command
a Norrad, but you called Westerville, Ohio your home.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yes, I'm a graduate of Westerville North High School classes
nineteen ninety seven and I I yeah, that's when. That's
how long I've been there. So it's it's been a
while since I've lived in Columbus, but it is always
my home.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Well, we're glad to connect with you, and that was
just by just by coincidence.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
We gave you a call and you said it's my home. Tech.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Is there anybody you want to give a shout out
to you that's listening this morning?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Oh dear, well, I think my parents, Doug and Elena
Browell are listening, potentially my brother and sister in law
Nathan and Nibbi brow So good morning to all of you.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Very good there.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And also it's my understanding you're a Penn State graduate,
so you've got a little bit of a football game
that you're interested in tomorrow as well.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Oh dear, I certainly am interested. We will watch all
of the playoff games, and I won't go too far,
but I will say you know, I will be cheering
for all Big ten teams in the playoffs.
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