Santa Claus tweets on Twitter, and other NORAD sleigh-spotting resources

Sweep out that chimney and get to baking those cookies, because Santa Claus is well underway on his world journeys. Not even winter storms will stop this man from coming to town.

How do I know? A Twitter tweet told me so. According to reports on the noradsanta feed, Santa and his reindeer entourage have already sleighed their way through New Zealand, Japan and even — no surprise here — Christmas Island.

This Twitter feed was started by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), which — besides concerning itself with military matters on our continent — has, since 1955, dealt with the serious business of tracking Santa on his annual, international Christmas Eve flight.

Find out Santa’s whereabouts on the NORAD Santa website, which plots his current and previous locations on a world map. Keep checking, as Mr. Claus is quick. When I last looked, he’d spent just five minutes in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, before moving on to his next spot.

For a more three-dimensional look at things, use NORAD Tracks Santa in conjunction with Google Earth. This morning, I watched the Rudolph-led troupe drop a present into China.

To track Kris Kringle’s movements, NORAD utilizes tools including radar, satellites, fighter jets and Santa cams.

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Video: Santa's 2008 flight over the Golden Gate Bridge and other landmarks around the world, as tracked by NORAD; You Tube]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 9:54 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Family & Kids, Festival, Global, News, Tips & Advice, Polar Regions, Travel Technology, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.