Colorado woman recalls phone call that transformed father into NORAD's "Santa Colonel"
Every day, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) uses radar, satellites and jets to monitor the skies. But on Christmas Eve, it's time for their most special mission -- tracking Santa's path. It all started with one phone call.
In 1955, 6-year-old Terri Shoup Van Keuren was living with her family in Colorado Springs. Her father, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, was stationed at CONAD, NORAD's predecessor.
"The year 1955 was the middle of the Cold War, and it was no joke. We were all convinced the Russians would send fighter planes to attack the U.S.," Van Keuren explained.
A phone on Shoup's desk connected straight to the Pentagon. One December night, while Shoup was acting as commanding officer on duty, the phone rang.
"And this little voice said, 'Is this Santa Claus?'" Van Keuren recalled from that night. "Dad said, 'This is Col. Shoup, the commander of the Combat Alert Center in Colorado Springs. Who's this?!'"
Van Keuren says her father was, at first, stern and believed the call could be a prank. But then, tearfully, the voice asked if Shoup was one of Santa's helpers.
"Dad finally realized it was a kid, and said, 'Ho, ho, ho, this is not Santa's helpers. This is Santa Claus,'" Van Keuren explained.
Shoup soon learned a local newspaper had advertised a number for children to call Santa.
"They had misprinted one digit, and it happened to be my dad's top-secret phone," Van Keuren said.
In the spirit of Christmas, Shoup told everyone at CONAD to report Santa's location to any child who called.
Van Keuren says someone at CONAD drew a sleigh on a large map of the skies, and the serious agency embraced the light-hearted mission. Soon, news that they were tracking Santa spread, and the whole world caught wind.
"My dad is calling the radio station saying, 'This is Col. Shoup with the Continental Air Defense Command. We have an unidentified object. Hey, that looks like a sleigh!'" Van Keuren remembered.
Col. Shoup died in 2009, but his legacy lives on. People remember Van Keuren's father as "the Santa Colonel."
"Col. Harry Shoup answered that call that day at the operation center. We've been keeping that tradition alive ever since," said Preston Schlachter with NORAD.
In present day, NORAD tracks the infrared heat signature from Rudolph's nose and updates the world online and with its hotline.
"We opened at 4 a.m. this morning, and we stay open until midnight," Schlachter said. "In that 20-hour timeframe, we're expecting about 900 people to answer calls from all over the world."
The volunteers tell callers all around the world where Santa's sleigh currently is and when he will be getting to their community.
Seventy-five-year-old Terri Shoup Van Keuren now lives in Castle Rock, but she never misses a Christmas Eve at NORAD.
"More often than not, the kids calling go, 'Where's Santa?' So you tell them where he is. They always want to know, 'When's he gonna be at my house?'" Van Keuren said.
To see when Santa will be arriving at your house, call 1-877-HI-NORAD or visit noradsanta.org.
This Christmas Eve, Van Keuren made the drive down with others from her independent living facility, Bonaventure, to answer the phone and make a child's Christmas special, just like her father did for previous generations.
"He loved Christmas," Van Keuren said. "He loved children."
