Phones, tracking screens and Santa hats are ready as NORAD Tracks Santa for 57th year

The Associated Press

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - Volunteers are pulling on their Santa hats, phone lines are set, and tracking screens are ready — NORAD Tracks Santa is primed for its 57th annual goodwill mission.

Santa trackers start taking calls early Monday, telling children — and some adults — when Santa is due at their house. The last shift won't end until nearly 24 hours later.

The number is 877-HI-NORAD or 877-446-6723.

Updates will be posted online (http://www.noradsanta.org), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/noradsanta) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/NoradSanta).

The operation is based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., home of the North American Aerospace Defence Command.

NORAD Tracks Santa began in 1955 when a newspaper ad listed the wrong phone number for kids to call Santa. They wound up calling the Continental Air Defence Command, NORAD's predecessor.