There are many who have to make a sacrifice and work on Christmas Eve but for the technicians at 21 Aerospace Control and Warning Squadron at the NORAD facility at CFB North Bay, is very special.
That's because those technicians will have a huge responsibility tonight. They will be responsible for tracking Santa Claus as he enters Canadian Airspace tonight.
"This evening at NORAD we are going to be getting ready for the big event," said Capt. Bradley Ticky to CKAT's Richard Coffin.
"We want to make sure our members have enough rest so they can stay up throughout the night to help us tracking Santa this evening and we are going to make sure the controllers and pilots are ready for the big mission."
However, Santa's journey is very much a mystery. Officials here say that St. Nick never files a flight plan so they have to use unique military technology to recognize the flight path of his sleigh and reindeer.
"Of course, when Santa arrives in Canadian airspace we are going to see him on our radar then we will transition to satellite imaging so we can pick up Rudolph's red nose via infrared and then we will send out our fighter jets and they will meet him off the coast of Newfoundland where we will get that pilot to pilot interaction and then we will escort him throughout Canada exchanging fighter jets where available and when he heads down to the United States we pass him off to the American, either F-15's or F-16's so they can take over for the American watch," explained Ticky.
Ticky encourages children of all ages to check out their website at noradsanta.org.
"With the countdown clock there are games and other such amusements that you can get on, then the night of they'll be tracking as well they'll have some updates based on the Santa cams positioned throughout the World, so we'll know even when he's in other countries, not just Canada," he said.
For more than 60 years NORAD has been providing updates on Santa's journey on Christmas Eve.
To call for Santa's exact location on Christmas Eve, dial 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or send an email to [email protected].
