Posted on 12/24/2004 7:09:49 AM PST by varina davis
Dec. 24, 2004 -- A "mostly" unidentified object was spotted this morning soaring at extremely high altitude just north of Alaska, apparently headed south.
After pin-pointing the object on radar, U.S. military aircraft was poised to provide an "emergency" escort to the United States and other points through midnight tonight.
Though uncertain of the origin of the high-flying object, it is believed to resemble an old-fashioned sleigh and a jolly fat man can be seen with the reins to a passle of wild reindeer.
The object appears to be overloaded, with strange packages spilling out and dropping onto villages and cities as it makes it's way to various destinations.
President George W. Bush and Pentagon officials are aware of the situation and have ordered an uninterrupted flight for the sleigh, with cookies and hot chocolate served whenever and wherever it lands.
There is also a banner streaming from the rear of the sleigh-like object pronouncing: "Merry Christmas!"
This is the 50th season that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs store's advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included a misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States decided to create a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.
The Command carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition from CONAD. Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts. This year, the information is provided in six languages.
NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many people at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to the many thousands of children who calls in.
Good point!
They actually painted that on a RyanAir airliner in Europe as a joke. So very typical British Isles humor. :o)
www.paulkidby.com He's done a lot of Discworld work. :)
Merry Christmas.
LOL. Merry Christmas! And is anyone else hearing that old Johhny Horton tune in their head?
Red Sleigh Down!!!!!
Mark
But that mood is typically proportional to the number of beers imbibed!
Sort of like White Castle "sliders," or Denny's Grand Slams at 03:00!
Mark
Thanks for the link! That Norad Santa-tracking site is darling!!!!
I live in Wasilla, AK and am looking out the window at the Talkeetna mountain range right now. Will confirm any sightings from the north as they happen. Other positive news here is that we start gaining dayllight now at about the rate of 30 seconds a day. Still dark at 930 am.
Hey, don't shoot down Santa! Do we have to send some little kids over to kick you in the shin.
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