Every day, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) uses radar, satellites and jets to monitor the skies. But on Christmas Eve, it’s time for their most special mission — tracking Santa’s path . It all started with one phone call.
In 1955, 6-year-old Terri Shoup Van Keuren was living with her family in Colorado Springs. Her father, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, was stationed at CONAD, NORAD’s predecessor.
“The year 1955 was the middle of the Cold War, and it was no joke. We were all convinced the Russians would send fighter planes to attack the U.S.,” Van Keuren explained.
A phone on Shoup’s desk connected straight to the Pentagon. One December night, while Shoup was acting as commanding officer on duty, the phone rang.
“And this little voice said, ‘Is this Santa Claus?'” Van Keuren recalled from that night. “Dad said, ‘This is Col. Shoup, the commander of the Combat Alert Center in Colorado Springs. Who’s this?!'”