The US military tracks Santa’s sleigh flight. That’s how you see it

Every year since 1955, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) simulates Santa’s path as he leaves the North Pole and delivers gifts to children around the world.

By Christmas 2024, NORAD has added an AI chatbot to its tracking site, though its AI capabilities are quite limited in scope, according to initial testing. NORAD Tracks Santa officially started on December 1st, but the actual simulation starts at midnight on December 24th.

Check out the NORAD Tracks Santa website ahead of time to play web games, watch videos about Santa and NORAD, listen to Santa’s favorite Christmas carols, learn more about Santa and his traditions, discover what NORAD is doing, and chat with Radar (the AI ​​chatbot).

The real-time simulation can take on combat proportions, as this video from Christmas 2013 shows. In the video, Santa’s reindeer sleigh is referred to as “The Big Red One” (which is also the name of the famous 1st Infantry Division of the US Army):

NORAD is a joint command of the United States and Canada that monitors the airspace over North America and provides “early warning of missile, air and spacecraft attacks on North America.” Back in 1955, NORAD’s predecessor organization was the first to launch the gag of tracking Santa’s plane on Christmas Eve – back then without the Internet or YouTube, of course.

The NORAD Tracks Santa site has a large time tracker that counts down to the start of Santa’s famous sleigh ride. Check it out and don’t forget to tune in on December 24th to see him do his thing!