Neel Mehta
The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Continental Air Defense Command have continued their holiday tradition of tracking the flight of Santa Claus with the use of radar systems and the internet.
The U.S. Army said Friday that NORAD used the North Warning System installed across Canada’s north region and Alaska to monitor what the service branch says is Santa’s liftoff from the North Pole.
The NORAD and CONAD team utilized the geosynchronous orbit satellites that usually support missile warning operations, as well as the satellites’ infrared sensors that the team says detect the heat signature from the red nose of the reindeer called Rudolph.
NORAD also used the SantaCam network of high-speed digital cameras installed in many locations around the world to capture what the command says are images of Santa and the reindeers before NORAD employees upload the still images and video onto the internet, the Army said.
The service branch added Canadian NORAD fighter pilots also flew the CF-18 from Newfoundland to welcome Santa to North America and American NORAD fighter pilots took off with F-15, F-16 or F-22Â aircraft to escort Santa.
