[ninty]

Here, I found an article:

[quote:e1d58]Three CF-18s to escort Santa across Canadian skies on Christmas Eve

WINNIPEG (CP) - Rudolph and all of Santa's other reindeer may have a tough time keeping up to the escort the Canadian air force is planning to provide for them on Christmas Eve. Canada's branch of the North American Aerospace Defence Command has freed up three CF-18 fighter jets to serve as the jolly old elf's guide for his trip across the country.

The planes will be snapping digital photos of the journey and beaming them back to Norad, where they will be posted on the Internet at http://www.noradsanta.org - the centre's Santa-tracking Web site.

The escort is slated to happen in two phases.

When Santa first enters Canadian air space, two jets from 3 Wing Bagotvill, Que., will meet his sleigh over Newfoundland and Labrador.

They will stay with him until he's over the Prairies where the third jet, from 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., will pick up the journey.

This is the 47th year Norad will track St. Nick's progress around the world.

The tradition began in 1955 when after children who spotted a misprinted Santa hotline number in local newspapers began calling Norad with questions.

Norad is a joint U.S.-Canadian defence operation that maintains vigilant year-round sky-watching duties from deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs.

It is responsible for monitoring manmade objects in space and events around the world that could signal a nuclear missile attack.

The Web site also contains Santa intelligence on how he gets to so many homes in one night and what snacks reindeer prefer.

Updates are also available by phone at 719-474-2111.
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