NORAD Santa Tracker 2011: Google Maps Helps You Keep An Eye On Santa This Christmas Eve (VIDEOS)

The holidays are here at last. And you know what that means. No, not family, togetherness or even presents. It means it's time to track Santa as he makes his annual trek around the globe.

Google and the North American Aerospace Defense Command have teamed up once again to help you keep an eye on old Saint Nick from the time he takes off from the North Pole.

Starting at 2 a.m. EST on December 24, Google users who have installed the Google Earth plugin can watch 3D animations of Santa and his reindeer flying by landmarks like the Cathedral of Florence, the Taj Mahal, Big Ben and more.

Visit the official NORAD Santa Site to see where in the world you can find Santa at any moment on Christmas Eve. Click the "Santa cam" icons to see videos of Mr. Kringle piloting his sleigh above the world's cities.

You can also keep tabs on Santa's sleigh from your mobile device. Just open your Google Maps app and search "santa" for an up-to-the-minute display of Santa's delivery route.

The yearly custom of spying on Santa has been in place for over 50 years. A post on the Official Google Blog explains the origin of the collaboration between the web giant and NATO:

NORAD’s tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve started in 1955, when a Sears and Roebuck ad promoting the Talk-to-Santa hotline inadvertently sent callers to CONAD (NORAD’s predecessor) commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. After recovering from the surprise that the call was not from the Pentagon or the White House but instead a little boy inquiring if the commander was Santa Claus, Colonel Harry Shoup asked his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh and a tradition was born.

NORAD's Denver-based Santa-tracking team, which answers phone calls, emails and social media messages as Santa makes his way across the globe, has expanded quite a bit as the tradition developed. According to the AP, they've "added 20 phones this year, bringing the total to 120, and four more laptops, for a total of 23." The crew stays on alert until 3 a.m. Mountain Time on December 25. You can get live updates from them on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Google's also getting into the holiday spirit this year by offering a Gmail-powered app that lets users send personalized greetings from Santa to friends and family. The search engine also transformed its home page with an interactive logo that serenades the user with "Jingle Bells" and festive lights.

Take a look at some highlights from Santa's first stops on his Christmas Eve journey (below).

Comments

[grapost]

09:14 AM on 12/27/2011

That photo makes it look like the Santa figurine is lying on top of a Cervix!

[xxx xxxx]

08:02 PM on 12/26/2011

Last I heard on the radio Cheech and Chong saw him at the Mexican Border .

[MaryR80]

06:07 PM on 12/26/2011

He always seems to leave the wrong presents for me :-(

http://visualizeyourownhappiness.blogspot.com/

[lovecometrue1]

02:03 PM on 12/26/2011

santa isnt real im realy realy young im still a kid if you look closely santa look like a drawing and so does the buidings so the videos have to be fake if you belive in the easter bunny ill give you a tip he doesnt excist just saying we would of already say it

[Sh00Fly]

01:21 PM on 12/26/2011

You can already see many shroom trips that have been tracked and broadcast on sites like YTube.

[65irwin]

09:15 PM on 12/25/2011

mele kalikimaka me ka hau'oli makahiki hou - merry christmas and a happy new year!


On the 'Spirit of Aloha'

"Aloha is the power of God (The Great Spirit) seeking to unite what is separated in the world - the power that unites heart with heart, soul with soul, life with life, culture with culture, race with race, nation with nation, (and man with woman).

Aloha is the power that reunites individuals with themselves when they become separated from the image of God (the Great Spirit) within.

Aloha consists of this attitude of heart, above negativism, above legalism. It is the unconditional desire to promote the true good of other people in a friendly spirit, out of a sense of kinship. Aloha seeks to do good, with no conditions attached. We do not do good only to those who do good to us. One of the sweetest things about the love of God (the Great Spirit), about Aloha, is that it welcomes the stranger and seeks his and her good. A person, who has the spirit of Aloha loves even when the love is not returned. And such is the love of God (the Great Spirit).

Aloha does not exploit a people or keep them in ignorance and subservience. Rather, it shares the sorrows and joys of people. It seeks to promote the true good of others.

Today, one of the deepest needs of humankind is the need to feel a sense of kinship, one with another. Truly all humankind

[rewith85man]

03:39 PM on 12/25/2011

#Santa could be running late on his job because he is stuffing his face at a buffet restaurant.

[skipptown]

03:25 PM on 12/25/2011

Finally managed to chat him up at the chimney this year. Found him to be totally elf-centered.

[Nando TTR]

03:09 PM on 12/25/2011

But where did he go to law school?

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/

[rewith85man]

03:39 PM on 12/25/2011

Uh, North Pole, I guess?

[lilipilicious]

03:06 PM on 12/25/2011

track santa? Seriously? Umm...I dont know how to tell you all that but SANTA CLAUSE IS NOT REAL...

[gnobie01]

03:35 PM on 12/25/2011

That is where ou are wrong....SANTA LIVES..in the good will and kindness of those who embrace the true meaning of this season...the peace and love that he represents is alive and well....peace to you

[lilipilicious]

04:58 PM on 12/25/2011

yeah, i dare you to be in santa's spirit of goodness and kindness the other 363 days of the year.

[lovecometrue1]

02:09 PM on 12/26/2011

thank you i cant belive people belive in santa track him the just make things to make it a holiday

[lilipilicious]

02:34 PM on 12/26/2011

it's all made up. All of christmas is juts made up, fantasy, pure make-belief. Exactly like religion. I mean they KNOW Santa is not real yet GOOGLE tracks him for us. TRACK. As if he was real. Wow. Just wow wow wow. Never underestimate the power of DENIAL.

[Ossit]

01:23 PM on 12/25/2011

Why in the world was Santa's trip to Paris narrated in Japanese? Or was that Korean?

[Ossit]

01:08 PM on 12/25/2011

Excellent! Now I can see NORAD's tracking of Santa that I missed last night because I was so tired. I betcha when Santa was through and he put his reindeer to bed, he probably downed a couple warm mugs of spiced Eggnog Mrs. Clause warmed up for him before bed. Santa is probably lounging around in robe and slippers watching tv.

[madcityy]

11:51 AM on 12/25/2011

we love santaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[pixiepotpie]

11:46 AM on 12/25/2011

Santa outsourced to the Chinese and spent the night at Starbuck's playing Angry Birds. Lol.

[RecreationalPilot]

10:44 AM on 12/25/2011

Didn't Iran shoot him down, mistaking him for a drone?

[rgreenberg62]

04:23 PM on 07/30/2012

can jb come to my house to bring me flowers?