In 1962, we had just come off the Cuban Missile crisis and were on edge. Then on Dec 24, the TV was interrupted for a BREAKING NEWS from NORAD, of something seen coming in over the DEW Line!
The pucker factor kicked in! Was it Russian Missiles? Is this IT!
Then they showed a poor photo of cotton clouds flying over a Santa Clause sleigh.
I have never trusted NORAD since. Too many false alarms.
I left active duty the first time because I didn’t want to spend a year on the DEW Line. I joined the Air Guard and ended up back on active duty at the Pentagon for 8 years.