How old is Santa Claus? And how tall is he? Have you ever had these questions? Well, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), famous for its Santa Tracker, revealed Santa’s age, weight, and height in its “About Santa FAQ”.
Santa Claus’s age, weight, and height
Santa Claus is the iconic figure that we have learnt to associate with Christmas. This legendary character has gained worldwide popularity due to numerous pop culture references and extensive commercialization over the years. Although it is “hard to know for sure”, NORAD reports Santa Claus is at least 1,600 years old.
Command analysts conclude that Santa is roughly 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 260 pounds based on flight profile data from radar, satellites, and numerous tracking sightings over more than 50 years.
NORAD’s Santa tracker
It was by coincidence that NORAD started tracking Santa. A child misdialed a printed phone number from a department shop advertisement in the local newspaper in 1955 while attempting to contact Santa. He called the Continental Air Defence Command (CONAD) Operations Centre in Colorado Springs, Colorado, rather than Santa.
Also read: Why does Santa Claus always wear red and white? The story behind Christmas icon’s look
The commander on duty that night, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, took the child’s call. Since Col. Harry Shoup did not want to upset the child, he made up a story about where Santa was located. The relationship between NORAD and Santa thus started, and it persisted when NORAD was established in 1958.
Since then, NORAD has faithfully informed millions of children and families worldwide of Santa’s location on Christmas Eve. NORAD Tracks Santa has endured for almost 65 years thanks to the assistance, services, and resources kindly offered by volunteers as well as our government and business donors.
In reality, what began as a typo has evolved into one of the Department of Defense’s largest community involvement initiatives. NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house,” said a senior NORAD official as per an official press release by the US Department of War.
Several million unique people from more than 200 nations and territories visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website annually. Over 130,000 calls from kids all over the world are usually answered by volunteers on the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline.
Christmas, which is the annual festival commemorating Jesus Christ’s birth, is observed on December 25 across the world.
