| For an interview with Col Shoup about the origins of NORAD Track Santa, click here. |
| Sleigh Technical Data http://www.noradsanta.org/en/faq.html#f1 |
massive festive phenomenon. For one night only each year, the organization set up to
defend the U.S. from incoming missiles sets its sights on Santa.
Originally an American craze, tracking Santa is rapidly picking up fans in other
countries. This time the images from Santa Cams will be in 3D and the audience the
largest yet, thanks to a linkup with the search engine Google.
At a retirement home in Colorado, a 90-year-old will follow the reindeer all the way.
Harry Shoup is the man who started all this 52 years ago, after taking a very strange
phone call.
"Oh my goodness, I'll never forget it," Shoup says. On Dec. 24, 1955, he was a colonel
in charge of a massive radar system built to give the U.S. early warning of the Soviet
attack many people feared was imminent. The Cold War was at its height. The
Pentagon was building nuclear missiles, the Kremlin doing the same. At his windowless
base in Colorado Springs, Colo., in front of a massive map of the world, Shoup was
keeping watch for Communist bombers.
"The red phone rang," he says. That never happened, and it meant huge trouble. The
defend the U.S. from incoming missiles sets its sights on Santa.
Originally an American craze, tracking Santa is rapidly picking up fans in other
countries. This time the images from Santa Cams will be in 3D and the audience the
largest yet, thanks to a linkup with the search engine Google.
At a retirement home in Colorado, a 90-year-old will follow the reindeer all the way.
Harry Shoup is the man who started all this 52 years ago, after taking a very strange
phone call.
"Oh my goodness, I'll never forget it," Shoup says. On Dec. 24, 1955, he was a colonel
in charge of a massive radar system built to give the U.S. early warning of the Soviet
attack many people feared was imminent. The Cold War was at its height. The
Pentagon was building nuclear missiles, the Kremlin doing the same. At his windowless
base in Colorado Springs, Colo., in front of a massive map of the world, Shoup was
keeping watch for Communist bombers.
"The red phone rang," he says. That never happened, and it meant huge trouble. The
| Santa Tracking Statistics |
Shoup's daughter, recalling the legend of that day in 1955. "He barks into the phone,"
demanding to know who's calling.
"The little voice is now crying," Van Keuren continued. "'Is this one of Santa's elves,
then?'"
The Santa questions were only beginning. That day, the local newspaper had run a
Sears Roebuck ad with a big picture of St. Nick and text that urged, "Hey, Kiddies! Call
me direct...Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day
or night."
But the phone number in the ad was off by a digit. Instead of connecting with Santa,
callers were dialing in on the line that would ring if the Russians were attacking.
Before long, the phone was ringing off the hook, and softening up, Shoup grabbed a
nearby airman and told him to answer the calls and, Van Keuren said, "'just pretend
you're Santa.'"
Indeed, rather than having the newspaper pull the Sears ad, Shoup decided to offer the
countless kids calling in something useful: information about Santa's progress from the
North Pole. To quote the official NORAD Santa site, "a tradition was born."
demanding to know who's calling.
"The little voice is now crying," Van Keuren continued. "'Is this one of Santa's elves,
then?'"
The Santa questions were only beginning. That day, the local newspaper had run a
Sears Roebuck ad with a big picture of St. Nick and text that urged, "Hey, Kiddies! Call
me direct...Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day
or night."
But the phone number in the ad was off by a digit. Instead of connecting with Santa,
callers were dialing in on the line that would ring if the Russians were attacking.
Before long, the phone was ringing off the hook, and softening up, Shoup grabbed a
nearby airman and told him to answer the calls and, Van Keuren said, "'just pretend
you're Santa.'"
Indeed, rather than having the newspaper pull the Sears ad, Shoup decided to offer the
countless kids calling in something useful: information about Santa's progress from the
North Pole. To quote the official NORAD Santa site, "a tradition was born."
 |  |  |  |
| If you have a picture you'd like us to feature a picture in a future quiz, please email it to us at CFitzp@aol.com. If we use it, you will receive a free analysis of your picture. You will also receive a free Forensic Genealogy CD or a 10% discount towards the purchase of the Forensic Genealogy book. |
 |  |  |  |
| 1. Sears Roebuck & Co. 2. Col. Harry Shoup, Commander at NORAD on Christmas Eve, 1955. He gave updates on Santa's position throughout the night to children who called in. 3. Because you will need the NORAD tracking system on Christmas Eve at www.noradsanta.org to track Santa's position and know when he will arrive at your house. |
| ********** |
| ********** |
| If you enjoy our quizzes, don't forget to order our books! Click here. |
| Quiz #238 Results |
One morning...December [1955], U.S. Air Force
Col. Harry Shoup, the director of operations at
CONAD, the Continental Air Defense
Command--NORAD's predecessor--got a phone
call at his Colorado Springs, Colo., office (see
video below). This was no laughing matter. The
call had come in on one of the top secret lines
inside CONAD that only rang in the case of a
crisis.
The ad that started it all.
(Credit: NORAD)
Grabbing the phone, Shoup must have expected
the worst. Instead, a tiny voice asked, "Is this
Santa Claus?"
"Dad's pretty annoyed," said Terri Van Keuren,
Col. Harry Shoup, the director of operations at
CONAD, the Continental Air Defense
Command--NORAD's predecessor--got a phone
call at his Colorado Springs, Colo., office (see
video below). This was no laughing matter. The
call had come in on one of the top secret lines
inside CONAD that only rang in the case of a
crisis.
The ad that started it all.
(Credit: NORAD)
Grabbing the phone, Shoup must have expected
the worst. Instead, a tiny voice asked, "Is this
Santa Claus?"
"Dad's pretty annoyed," said Terri Van Keuren,
| 2008 NORAD Track Santa YouTube Video |
| How Gerald Solved the Puzzle |
| The Sears ad that started it all. |
| I tried various google searches with different combinations of "pilot" "1955" "ad" "unexpected" and eventually "Christmas" (a hunch, given the 3rd question). I eventually got a link to a somewhat messed up page (looks like there were a lot of scripting problems). I was able to make out just enough to find "NORAD" and "Col. Harry Shoup", and that did the trick! I found the NORAD page with the exact photos! Gerald Vanlandingham |
| NORAD Track Santa http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10418101-52.html |
| How NORAD Tracks Santa www.noradsanta.org/howtrack.html |
| ********** |
| Forensic Genealogy respectfully dedicates this quiz to Colonel (Retired) Harry S. Shoup "Colonel Santa Claus" September 29, 1917 - March 14, 2009 |
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and
fighter jets.
Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System.
This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern
border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems
continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.
The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection
system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s
surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat.
Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allow our
satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.
US and Canada flags
The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which
is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra -
cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations
around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year on Christmas Eve. The
cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey
around the world.
fighter jets.
Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System.
This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern
border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems
continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.
The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection
system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s
surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat.
Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allow our
satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.
US and Canada flags
The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which
is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra -
cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations
around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year on Christmas Eve. The
cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey
around the world.
| ********** |
| Tracking Santa is serious business Google helps take legacy of defense agency global By COLE MORETON THE (LONDON) INDEPENDENT December 23, 2007 http://www.seattlepi.com/national/344697_noradclaus24.html?source=mypi |
The fourth system is made up of
fighter jets. CanadianNORAD fighter
pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and
welcome Santa to North America. In
the United States, American NORAD
fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the
F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside
Santa and his famous reindeer:
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of
course, Rudolph.
fighter jets. CanadianNORAD fighter
pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and
welcome Santa to North America. In
the United States, American NORAD
fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the
F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside
Santa and his famous reindeer:
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of
course, Rudolph.
| NORAD Track Santa Center in the 1960s. |
| An Interiew with Col Harry Shoup's Family December 23, 2007 http://www.seattlepi.com/national/344697_noradclaus24.html?source=mypi |
| The magic was prolonged for Terri at her dad’s office, and her memory of that time is as clear and shining as church bells on a frosty morning. “What I remember best is Dad taking us to his office,” Terri says. “His building is now on the Olympic training site. It was a huge building with no windows —and no computers, of course. But there was a huge glass map of North America stretching from one end of the building to the other. Scaffolding had been erected behind it, so people could write on the glass. A number of offices faced the glass, so that the people in the offices could monitor the activity that was written on it. It was a thrill for me to see these people with pencils writing on the glass where any unidentified objects were and then erasing them as they became identified.” The Shoup family always spent Christmas Eve with the troops in this building, whether or not they were on alert. On that particular Christmas Eve in 1955, Col. and Mrs. Shoup took Christmas cookies over and discovered that someone on the scaffolding had drawn a sleigh on the map. A staff member wanted to know if the Colonel wanted it erased. He said no and instead called the radio station. “We have a UFO coming across Canada,” he said. “It looks like a sleigh.” The radio station loved it and broadcast it. And the media — whether radio, Internet, television or print — still loves it. Terri, who is currently working on a children’s book about tracking Santa Claus, had her own 800 phone number for members of the media to call to find out where the Santa Colonel was. “I became Santa Central,” she laughs. “I tracked the Santa Colonel for the media in the same way he tracked Santa for the kids.” Shoup became confused toward the end of his life, and Terri always accompanied him on media interviews to help keep the stories straight. “Some of his stories were pretty fantastic,” she says, “but it was important to him to keep alive the magic of Christmas.” There’s no doubt he kept it alive. Shoup received letters and emails from all over the world, thanking him and NORAD for what they do. Terri printed the emails for him, and he carried them around with him as though they were important papers. To him, they were. In 2002, Shoup became ill and he and his wife moved into an assisted living facility in Colorado Springs. Mrs. Shoup died in 2003 at the same facility. Terri, who worked as the activities director for the nursing home, had the chance to spend time with her dad. “I got to know him on a personal level, not just as his little kid. I needed that five years with him to become his friend.” December always brings lots of carolers to the nursing home. Terri recalls one particular Boy Scout troop singing for the |
When Santa Claus leaves the North Pole
to begin his epic delivery [Christmas Eve],
he will be tracked closely by radar and
satellite, and by jet fighters following the
sleigh. And this Christmas Eve there will
be more men and women and boys and
girls watching than ever, as the Web site
showing his progress around the world in
real time expects a billion hits.
"NORAD Tracks Santa" -- run by the
deadly serious North American Aerospace
Defense Command -- has become a
to begin his epic delivery [Christmas Eve],
he will be tracked closely by radar and
satellite, and by jet fighters following the
sleigh. And this Christmas Eve there will
be more men and women and boys and
girls watching than ever, as the Web site
showing his progress around the world in
real time expects a billion hits.
"NORAD Tracks Santa" -- run by the
deadly serious North American Aerospace
Defense Command -- has become a
fast. Last year
the Web site
--
noradsanta.
org --
received 941
million hits
from 210
countries. The
the Web site
--
noradsanta.
org --
received 941
million hits
from 210
countries. The
| ********** |
| Answer to Quiz #238 December 20, 2009 |
phones were manned by 750 volunteers
who took 65,000 calls and answered
96,000 e-mails.
"My grandfather really does realize the
scale of what this has become," Farrell
says. "He loves his legacy."
Her mother, Pam, the middle of the three
Shoup girls, was 11 in 1955.
Pam grew up to marry an Air Force pilot,
who in time became commander of the
Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
They had their own daughter, Carrie, who
knew Christmas Eve as the time for
Grandpa's ritual.
"It was a family occasion with my
grandfather at the helm. We would all sit
there and he would tell us the story of
Santa Claus, and his own personal story
involving Santa."
Then he would get on the phone to the
base commander. "We got the inside
track. There was one set of information
that was given to the public, but we got a
little bit more information."
They believed it, too.
"He was not kidding. When he told us we
had to go to bed right away or Santa
wouldn't come, then we did as we were
told, because we knew he knew where
Santa was."
Farrell has worked for Google since 2001,
but the linkup with NORAD wasn't her
idea. It came from one of those engineers
who get to spend 20 percent of their time
on personal projects.
This year NORAD will use the Google
Earth application which allows users to
zoom in on a realistic landscape anywhere
in the world, assembled using satellite
photographs and overlaid with
information. Monday that will include
Santa's sleigh as it moves through the sky.
NORAD starts tracking at 1 a.m. PST
when it is expected Santa will still be at
the North Pole. His route changes from
year to year, but always involves starting
after sunset somewhere around New
Zealand.
It will track him using 47 radar
installations along the northern border of
North America, and orbiting satellites that
use infrared to detect launched missiles --
or Rudolph's glowing nose. There are also
Santa Cam digital cameras at key
locations around the world, and Canadian
CF-18 fighters to escort the sleigh
through North American airspace.
Shoup, who lives "right across the street"
from the Air Force academy, likes to
wear a shirt that says "Santa's Colonel."
"He is so excited. He will be tracking
Santa, same as always," says his
granddaughter.
who took 65,000 calls and answered
96,000 e-mails.
"My grandfather really does realize the
scale of what this has become," Farrell
says. "He loves his legacy."
Her mother, Pam, the middle of the three
Shoup girls, was 11 in 1955.
Pam grew up to marry an Air Force pilot,
who in time became commander of the
Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
They had their own daughter, Carrie, who
knew Christmas Eve as the time for
Grandpa's ritual.
"It was a family occasion with my
grandfather at the helm. We would all sit
there and he would tell us the story of
Santa Claus, and his own personal story
involving Santa."
Then he would get on the phone to the
base commander. "We got the inside
track. There was one set of information
that was given to the public, but we got a
little bit more information."
They believed it, too.
"He was not kidding. When he told us we
had to go to bed right away or Santa
wouldn't come, then we did as we were
told, because we knew he knew where
Santa was."
Farrell has worked for Google since 2001,
but the linkup with NORAD wasn't her
idea. It came from one of those engineers
who get to spend 20 percent of their time
on personal projects.
This year NORAD will use the Google
Earth application which allows users to
zoom in on a realistic landscape anywhere
in the world, assembled using satellite
photographs and overlaid with
information. Monday that will include
Santa's sleigh as it moves through the sky.
NORAD starts tracking at 1 a.m. PST
when it is expected Santa will still be at
the North Pole. His route changes from
year to year, but always involves starting
after sunset somewhere around New
Zealand.
It will track him using 47 radar
installations along the northern border of
North America, and orbiting satellites that
use infrared to detect launched missiles --
or Rudolph's glowing nose. There are also
Santa Cam digital cameras at key
locations around the world, and Canadian
CF-18 fighters to escort the sleigh
through North American airspace.
Shoup, who lives "right across the street"
from the Air Force academy, likes to
wear a shirt that says "Santa's Colonel."
"He is so excited. He will be tracking
Santa, same as always," says his
granddaughter.
| us that Santa would bring us the toy of our dreams. He was a child at heart, and he wanted to prolong the magic.” |
| Santa Tracking Map |
| The NORAD Santa Tracker program expanded to the Internet in 1998. In 2004, the Web site received 912 million hits from computers in over 181 different countries, NORAD received more than 35,000 e-mails, and 55,000 telephone calls. In 2005, more than 500 volunteers answered questions from children around the world. In 2006, half a million calls and over 12,500 e-mails were handled from 214 territories. The site now gets well over 1 billion hits. |
| Comments from Our Readers |
I can't wait to watch for Santa online again this Xmas Eve! Didn't realize Santa was
also on Onstar, I will have to tell my parents since they just bought a car w/Onstar.
They will get a kick out of it - I love to see the graphics on Google Earth and it helps
get the kiddos to bed faster when they see how close Santa is getting! Nicole Blank
*****
If we wait until the 25th or after, Santa will be home resting up for next year and we
shouldn't disturb his rest. Milene Rawlinson
*****
I guess if we want to know where Santa is we will be following the NORAD updates.
After Dec 24, we will have to wait another year. Margaret Waterman
*****
This was absolutely a delightful quiz. Col Harry Shoup just died this past March.
Previous to that he had been interviewd regarding his first phone call. It is obvious it
became a highlight of his life. Sharon Martin
*****
This quiz was great fun! In the process, I learned that Colonel Shoup had died on
March 14th, 2009. An interview with him about that first call was put up on the
NORAD web site as a tribute to him (http://www.norad.mil/News/2009/032509.html ).
Mike Swierczewski
*****
I might have been a bit naughty this year so I hope Santa still comes. Dennis Brann
*****
Love the quiz. What a great story. Debbie Sterbinsky
*****
RIP, Col. Shoup, an admirable man who went above and beyond the call of duty to put
joy in the hearts of young children through out the continent. Gerald Vanlandingham
*****
This quiz was very hard for Mr. Rick without the help of the QuizKids...but Jocelyn
repaid a favor and helped bale me out on this one...Mr. Rick is asking Santa for more
brain cells this year!!! Rick Mackinney
*****
This was a sweet quiz. Maureen O'Connor
*****
I'm glad I figured this out in time to appreciate what will be happening tonight for all the
little kiddies. Fun, fun story. It made me laugh out loud. Merry Christmas to puzzlers
everywhere. Mary Osmar
*****
Actually we had the website up last Christmas Eve at the Zach's annual get together.
The children kept running in to check his progress. How fun! Betty Chambers
also on Onstar, I will have to tell my parents since they just bought a car w/Onstar.
They will get a kick out of it - I love to see the graphics on Google Earth and it helps
get the kiddos to bed faster when they see how close Santa is getting! Nicole Blank
*****
If we wait until the 25th or after, Santa will be home resting up for next year and we
shouldn't disturb his rest. Milene Rawlinson
*****
I guess if we want to know where Santa is we will be following the NORAD updates.
After Dec 24, we will have to wait another year. Margaret Waterman
*****
This was absolutely a delightful quiz. Col Harry Shoup just died this past March.
Previous to that he had been interviewd regarding his first phone call. It is obvious it
became a highlight of his life. Sharon Martin
*****
This quiz was great fun! In the process, I learned that Colonel Shoup had died on
March 14th, 2009. An interview with him about that first call was put up on the
NORAD web site as a tribute to him (http://www.norad.mil/News/2009/032509.html ).
Mike Swierczewski
*****
I might have been a bit naughty this year so I hope Santa still comes. Dennis Brann
*****
Love the quiz. What a great story. Debbie Sterbinsky
*****
RIP, Col. Shoup, an admirable man who went above and beyond the call of duty to put
joy in the hearts of young children through out the continent. Gerald Vanlandingham
*****
This quiz was very hard for Mr. Rick without the help of the QuizKids...but Jocelyn
repaid a favor and helped bale me out on this one...Mr. Rick is asking Santa for more
brain cells this year!!! Rick Mackinney
*****
This was a sweet quiz. Maureen O'Connor
*****
I'm glad I figured this out in time to appreciate what will be happening tonight for all the
little kiddies. Fun, fun story. It made me laugh out loud. Merry Christmas to puzzlers
everywhere. Mary Osmar
*****
Actually we had the website up last Christmas Eve at the Zach's annual get together.
The children kept running in to check his progress. How fun! Betty Chambers
| Merry Christmas to Our Winners! Carl Blessing Marilyn Hamill Nicole Blank Milene Rawlinson Peter Norton Tom McEntee Margaret Waterman Sharon Martin Tamura Jones Diane Burkett Betty Chambers Gina Hudson Janice M. Sellers Joshua Kreitzer Beverly Johns Judy Pfaff Ben Truwe Beth Long Karen Kay Bunting Mike Swierczewski Eric Goforth JoLynn Pfeiffer Sandra McConathy Dave Doucette Dennis Brann Debbie Sterbinsky Jocelyn Thayer Kathy Storm Rick Mackinney Karen Kay Bunting Beth Long Don Draper Stan Read Maureen O'Connor Jerry Vergeront Robert W. Steinmann Jr. Mary Osmar John Sims Mike Vanlandingham |
red phone was the
emergency line: It could only
be his commander calling, or
the Pentagon. "I picked it up
and I said: 'Yes, sir? This is
Colonel Shoup.' "
There was no answer for a
moment. Then came the
hesitant voice of a small boy.
"Are you really Santa Claus?"
Shoup was taken aback. "I
looked around my staff and I
emergency line: It could only
be his commander calling, or
the Pentagon. "I picked it up
and I said: 'Yes, sir? This is
Colonel Shoup.' "
There was no answer for a
moment. Then came the
hesitant voice of a small boy.
"Are you really Santa Claus?"
Shoup was taken aback. "I
looked around my staff and I
| A wrong number in a 1955 ad gave this man an unexpected job. 1. Who published the wrong number? 2. Who was he and how did he respond? 3. Why should you answer this quiz before December 24? |
| residents. “And there’s always one who wants to know how Santa can get around to all those houses,” she says. “Dad said, ‘It’s the magic of Christmas — and don’t forget that Santa’s watching!’” On March 14, 2009, the Santa Colonel left this earthly path behind to start a new journey. The memorial service was a traditional military one at the national cemetery in Fort Logan, with uniformed military folding the American flag and a 21-gun salute. At the end, four F-16s flew in formation over the cemetery with one peeling off and spiraling into the clouds in the missing man formation. Shoup and his wife, Louise, had four children: Judy Hannigan of Corvallis, Oregon, Pamela Farrell of Firestone, Terri van Keuren of Castle Rock and Rick Shoup of Sherman Oaks, California. (Interestingly enough, Rick was born in 1955, the same year Santa tracking was born.) Shoup’s family expanded with the addition of eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren (a seventh was born after his death). And it is these children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who keep the magic alive. It’s the dream of the children to all volunteer at NORAD on Christmas Eve at the same time — something that hasn’t happened yet. But the magic can be seen best in removing doubt about Santa Claus. Now, just as my dad restored the magic to me those many years ago by telling me about the government tracking Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, so one of Shoup’s grandsons keeps the magic going by telling others about the Santa Colonel. When asked why he believed in Santa Claus, he said, “If there’s no Santa, then how did my grandpa track him on radar?” http://www.coloradocountrylife.coop/index.php/cover-stories/18-cover-story/128-tracking-magic.html |
| ********** |
thought, 'Somebody's playing a joke on me. This isn't funny.' I said, 'Would you repeat
that, please?' "
The boy asked again if he was Santa Claus. "I knew then that there was some
screw-up on the phones."
There certainly was. A local Sears Roebuck store had advertised a Santa line, on which
children could talk to the man himself as he prepared for his rounds. But the wrong
phone number had been published. Instead of talking to a Sears volunteer, the child
unwittingly got through to one of the most important lines in America -- and certainly to
one of the most uptight men in the country that Christmas Eve.
Shoup called his workplace the Ulcer Palace because of the stress he was under there,
said his granddaughter Carrie Farrell, 36, who works for Google in California. "My
grandfather was shocked at first," Farrell said. "He was in no mood for this."
The colonel said no, he wasn't Santa -- and could he speak to the boy's mother? She
came on the line and explained what had happened, at which point Farrell says: "He
started to lighten up. He was a very serious man ... but I think the season eventually got
the better of him."
When the boy was told he had actually reached the radar command center, he asked a
that, please?' "
The boy asked again if he was Santa Claus. "I knew then that there was some
screw-up on the phones."
There certainly was. A local Sears Roebuck store had advertised a Santa line, on which
children could talk to the man himself as he prepared for his rounds. But the wrong
phone number had been published. Instead of talking to a Sears volunteer, the child
unwittingly got through to one of the most important lines in America -- and certainly to
one of the most uptight men in the country that Christmas Eve.
Shoup called his workplace the Ulcer Palace because of the stress he was under there,
said his granddaughter Carrie Farrell, 36, who works for Google in California. "My
grandfather was shocked at first," Farrell said. "He was in no mood for this."
The colonel said no, he wasn't Santa -- and could he speak to the boy's mother? She
came on the line and explained what had happened, at which point Farrell says: "He
started to lighten up. He was a very serious man ... but I think the season eventually got
the better of him."
When the boy was told he had actually reached the radar command center, he asked a
| TRACKING THE SANTA COLONEL Shoup was a fighter pilot, very gruff, very strict, very military. But he had a soft spot for kids, especially at Christmas. Around Christmas, he became more like a child himself. “Dad didn’t have a particularly good childhood,” recalls Terri Van Keuren, daughter of Col. Harry Shoup. “It wasn’t affectionate. It meant the world to him to give that to his kids. To him, Christmas is about childhood. He was always a big kid about Christmas. “He put his all into us believing in Santa,” Terri continues. “There was a man in our church who had long white whiskers, and every time he visited, Dad would exclaim, ‘Here comes Santa Claus!’ He always told |
| ********** |
question that would have massive
implications for the base and for millions
of children in the half-century to come.
"Do you know where Santa is then?"
Shoup, laughing by now, decided to play
along. He did have three young girls and a
baby boy at home, after all. So he spoke
to the men who were mapping data on to
the huge picture of the world. "They were
able to find out where Santa was on the
radar," Farrell says.
The red phone rang many times that
night, and with each call, the radar team
got more enthusiastic about this seasonal
diversion from their ultra-serious work.
"Everyone there went along with it,"
Farrell says.
The bosses did not, at first -- until Shoup
convinced them it was a very good public
relations tool for their new defense
technology.
The following Christmas the military
actually advertised its ability to tell
everyone where Santa was. Over the
years, a call to NORAD became a part of
the buildup to Christmas for many
children in the U.S., but it remained an
American secret until an Internet version
was launched in 1998.
In recent years the audience has grown
implications for the base and for millions
of children in the half-century to come.
"Do you know where Santa is then?"
Shoup, laughing by now, decided to play
along. He did have three young girls and a
baby boy at home, after all. So he spoke
to the men who were mapping data on to
the huge picture of the world. "They were
able to find out where Santa was on the
radar," Farrell says.
The red phone rang many times that
night, and with each call, the radar team
got more enthusiastic about this seasonal
diversion from their ultra-serious work.
"Everyone there went along with it,"
Farrell says.
The bosses did not, at first -- until Shoup
convinced them it was a very good public
relations tool for their new defense
technology.
The following Christmas the military
actually advertised its ability to tell
everyone where Santa was. Over the
years, a call to NORAD became a part of
the buildup to Christmas for many
children in the U.S., but it remained an
American secret until an Internet version
was launched in 1998.
In recent years the audience has grown
| Col. Harry Shoup (Ret) November 2005 http://www.ksl.com/?nid=136&sid=133112 |
| Andy and I wish all of our friends and quiz-family a Happy Holiday Season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
| ********** |
| See SantaCam videos of Santa's Christmas Eve journey. Click here. |
| NASA's Exclusive Interview with Santa about an Interplanetary Christmas Click here. |
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