Nine times Norad tracked something that wasn’t Santa

By Daniel Otis, CTVNews.ca writer

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    Toronto, Ontario (CTV Network) — Just after 9 p.m. last Christmas Eve, Public Safety Canada alerted emergency stakeholders about something detected near the North Pole.

Obtained through an access to information request, the Dec. 24, 2021, notification from Canada’s Government Operations Centre describes the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) “tracking an unidentified flying object, nine reindeer and a man in a red suit flying around the world.” A Royal Canadian Air Force squadron, it continued, was “prepared to detect, identify, greet and escort the aircraft once it enters Canadian airspace.” Ho, ho, ho – the annual Norad Tracks Santa program had begun.

Norad has been tasked with protecting the U.S. and Canada since 1958. Headquartered in Colorado and with installations across both countries, the binational defence group aims to track everything that flies in and around American and Canadian airspace via a network of satellites and radars, with fighter jets ready to intercept potential threats like long-range Russian bombers.

While the over six-decade-old Norad Tracks Santa holiday tradition is perhaps Norad’s most visible operation, Canadian and U.S. military personnel work 24/7 year-round to keep North America safe. Based declassified documents and public records, here are nine times in the 2000s that Norad tracked something that wasn’t Santa.

HOVERING LIGHT Not long before Christmas, on the night of Dec. 23, 2018, a woman onshore in Yarmouth, N.S., and a fisherman out at sea in the Bay of Fundy both contacted a search and rescue centre in Halifax to report a light hovering above the Atlantic Ocean.

According to documents obtained through an access to information request, members of a Norad-affiliated Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadron in North Bay, Ont., reviewed Norad radar data “and observed three primary radar hits” that closely corresponded to the approximately 45-minute-long sighting. Few details were given about the light, other than that it was “yellow, steady and hovering.”

“This is an area that has good low level radar coverage, so there is no explanation of why there were only three points all at exactly 12,800 ft with no points leading up to or continuing on at any other altitudes,” an RCAF report on the incident notes. “Suspect that these may have been independent radar hits on weather and not an actual airborne object.”

Whatever it was, with “no evidence of anyone in danger,” authorities declined to further investigate the calls.

Once classified secret, a heavily-redacted air force logbook that descries the case features the words “Santa is [airborne]” with an emoticon smile at 09:27 Zulu on Dec. 24, marking Christmas Eve on the other side of the world and the launch of the annual Norad Tracks Santa program.

Not far along the coast from Yarmouth, the fishing village of Shag Harbour, N.S., is the famous site of an October 1967 mass sighting of a glowing unidentified flying object that disappeared into the ocean.

UNKNOWN TRACKS While the Pentagon and NASA study what they call “unidentified aerial phenomena,” or UAP, the Canadian military routinely states that it does “not typically investigate sightings of unknown or unexplained phenomena outside the context of investigating credible threats, potential threats, or potential distress in the case of search and rescue.” A recent CTVNews.ca investigation revealed at least four incidents have met that criteria since 2016, including three involving Norad.

On both Nov. 21, 2018, and Sept. 21, 2020, Canadian CF-18 fighter jets were scrambled to investigate unknown radar tracks detected by Norad near Canada’s northern approaches. In each case, the jets saw nothing and the radar tracks were ultimately deemed “spurious” data.

In a third, Norad scrambled fighter jets on Dec. 22, 2016, after an American Airlines flight reported taking “evasive action” when an “unknown aircraft” appeared “off his left side.” Norad picked up “a single radar hit” behind the American Airlines flight, which “reported seeing an aircraft with a rotating white light.” The CF-18s, however, eventually returned home to Quebec without finding it.

According to a report in a public aviation incident database, on Nov. 27, 2002, Norad radar also tracked “a large tubular object between [37,000] and [47,000 feet] in the area of Chicago which was moving toward the Thunder Bay area” in northwestern Ontario. Aircraft in the vicinity were asked to report visual contact. Despite three access to information requests, no other details have emerged.

DERELICT OBJECT Sometimes how a radar track is moving provides enough detail for Norad to determine it isn’t a threat. Not long before midnight on Feb. 11, 2019, Norad detected something over northern Canada that was “following” the jet stream. The object travelled at speeds “consistent with the upper level winds” and at altitudes of 20,000 to 27,000 feet, leading Norad personnel in Canada to conclude that it was a “derelict object,” likely a “potential balloon.” Civilian aircraft were notified of “the potential hazard to aviation” and no further action was taken.

RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT On Oct. 17, a pair of U.S. Air Force fighter jets intercepted two long-range Russian bombers near North America. According to a Norad press release, the American F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after the nuclear-capable Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers were detected flying near Alaska in international airspace.

Norad press releases describe more than a half-dozen incidents like these since 2020 alone. On Jan. 31, 2020, for example, Norad identified two nuclear-capable supersonic Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers entering what’s known as the Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone: an area outside Canadian airspace that’s monitored for incoming threats. The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and no further actions were taken.

The last time Russian planes are known to have entered the Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone was on Sept. 11, 2022, when Norad detected two Russian maritime patrol aircraft.

NORAD’S FUTURE Established to protect North America against Soviet missiles and bombers, nearly 65 years later Norad’s mission has come full circle amid heightened tensions with Russia.

During a Canadian Senate defence committee meeting in November, Norad’s Canadian deputy commander warned that Russia had resumed bomber and submarine patrols near North America following a reduction after the Feb. 24 illegal invasion of Ukraine.

There have been growing calls for Norad to upgrade and modernize its ageing systems in order to defend North America against new and emerging threats, like advanced cruise missiles and Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons, which are designed to evade our Cold War defences while travelling more than five times the speed of sound.

In June, Canada announced it will invest $4.9 billion over six years in Norad and continental defence, primarily to replace the 1980s-era North Warning System: a chain of 52 radar stations that stretches 4,800 kilometres from Alaska to Labrador to act as “trip wire” for the continent’s northern approaches. With no firm timeline for its replacement, defence officials say North America will have to rely on “deterrence by punishment” until new technologies are deployed.

NORAD TRACKS SANTA According to Norad, it all began by accident in 1955 due to a phone number typo in a local newspaper ad. When a child dialed it in the hopes of speaking with Santa, they actually got the on-duty commander of what was then known as the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs.

Quick to realize the mistake, U.S. Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup assured the child that they were speaking to Santa himself. Calls kept coming in, and Shoup assigned an officer to answer them, creating a tradition that continued when Norad was formed by the U.S. and Canada in 1958.

Today, Norad says it reports Santa’s location to millions of children and families across 200 countries worldwide, with volunteers typically answering more than 130,000 calls from the Norad Tracks Santa hotline. On Christmas, you can now follow the action on the Norad Tracks Santa website.

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