The original NORAD Santa tracking started by accident - pretty good story.

The tradition of tracking Santa Claus started when a local newspaper ran a Sears Roebuck ad with a phone number one digit off from what it was supposed to be.

The number listed rang to THE red phone in the control room for predecessor to NORAD, CONAD. THE red phone that is only supposed to ring when it is time to launch weapons and was not meant for joking around at all.

quote:

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U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations at the center, rushed over to the phone and grabbed it.

“Yes, Sir, this is Colonel Shoup,” he barked.

Nothing but silence in response.

“Sir? This is Colonel Shoup,” he said.

Silence again.

“Sir? Can you read me alright?”

Finally, a soft voice on the other end.

“Are you really Santa Claus?” a little girl asked.

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quote:

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“That red phone, boy,” Shoup later recalled. “That’s either the old man—the four star [General Partridge]—or the Pentagon. I was all shook up.”

The red phone would keep ringing throughout the night. Not because of Soviet nukes or fighter planes heading toward U.S. soil, but because of a typo.

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LINK to the complete story