Bonus Episode: 100 Seconds to Midnight: The Santa Tracker

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When does Santa come with my presence? It'll be later tonight. Don't worry,

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he'll come. He promised me that
he would come and bring treats and

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toys. Well, you have to
be asleep and you can't bark at him

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when he comes. He'll put you
on the naughty list. I won't bark

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at him. He's nice. I
met him. You know he can get

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doggy daycare. I told him when
I wanted for Christmas, and he gave

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me ripped cream. I hope he
brings more dog food. I'm worried that

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the grid will go down. The
dog food is my responsibility. He'll bring

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treats and toys for you, but
you have to be asleep. You can't

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see him coming in the house.
But I really want to talk to him

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again. He gives good belly ReBs. You can get belly rubs from Santa

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next year. He comes every year. You just don't remember last year because

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you were little. Are you watching
Nora d Yes, I'm watching the Santa

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Tracker. He's in Africa now,
Okay, keep an eye on him.

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Do you have to be asleep too, No, I can see Santa when

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he comes. I'll give him treats
when he comes. What kind of treats

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do you give Santa? Well,
I'll probably give him some cookies and milk.

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That's a Santa tradition. Okay,
that he told me he likes shipped

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cream too, though It's okay.
I'm sure he'll like the cookies too.

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I'm having this conversation with my dog, but I'm sure many of you are

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having this very same conversation with your
children tonight. It's a night of wonder

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and excitement when children are curious about
what Santa will bring them for Christmas.

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It's ninety seconds to midnight, and
the jolly old Soul who delivers gifts is

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currently flying over Liberia. So far, he's delivered almost five billion gifts to

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the girls and boys and dogs and
cats on his nice list. Welcome to

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Cause of Death. One hundred seconds
to midnight, host Jackie Morante. It's

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Christmas Eve here in Missouri, and
I'm watching the Santa Tracker with my faithful

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dog beside me. Sweet Pea was
too young to remember Santa coming last year,

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but this year she's all about getting
a few special gifts. I watch

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the Santa Tracker every year on Christmas
Eve. My daughter is long grown,

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but he makes an appearance for my
pets every year. My animals always seem

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to find themselves on the nice list
for Santa. The story of the Santa

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Tracker is sixty eight years old this
year, and I thought it would be

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fun to talk a little about Norrad
and how they began tracking Santa on Christmas

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Eve. Norrad is a defense system
for the US and Canada. They spend

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their days and nights looking for any
incoming missiles, but the most important thing

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they do is they track Santa as
he makes his way across the world to

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deliver presence. This all began in
nineteen fifty five when a small child called

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a phone number that she had seen
in an advertisement in her local paper.

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She missdiled and accidentally reached the Continental
Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs,

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Colorado. This is known as CONAD
Air Force. Colonel Larry Schupe was

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the commander on duty that night,
and he realized that the child had called

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the number accidentally, but instead of
rudely hanging up, he told her that

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he was not Santa, but it
was his job to make sure that Santa

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made it safely on his way across
the world so that he could deliver presence.

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A tradition was born that night.
Three years later, the duties were

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transferred to Norrad when CONAD was dissolved. Eight Here I sit at my computer

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watching Santa live on radar sixty eight
years after a little girl accidentally called an

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unlisted number for one of the most
powerful defense systems in the world. Every

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year, the Santa Tracker website receives
nearly fifteen million visitors from around the world.

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Volunteers at the command center take more
than one hundred and thirty thousand calls

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to the Norrad Tracks Santa hotline from
children all around the globe. Only Santa

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knows the route that he'll take each
year, and it changes with each passing

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year. Children and pets grow older, they change locations, and sometimes children

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and pets move from the nice list
to the naughty list and vice versa,

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so Santa can't always take the same
route. Historically, Santa comes to houses

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sometime between nine pm and midnight.
If the children or pets are awake,

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he moves on and tries again later
when he's sure they're asleep. How does

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Norrad track Santa. NORAD has some
of the most sophisticated tracking equipment in the

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world. They use radar, satellites, and jet fighters. All these things

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in combination help the people at NORAD
watch Santa as he travels around the Earth

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leaving presents. NORD turns the North
Warning radar system to the North Pole a

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few days before Christmas so that they
won't miss liftoff. This picks up the

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glow from Rudolph's nose. Once Santa
is in the air, NORRAD begins using

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the same satellite systems that they use
to warn them of any missile attacks headed

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to North America. The satellites are
located twenty two three hundred miles above the

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Earth and they're equipped with infrared sensors. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature

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that's very similar to a missile launch, and the satellites can pick up on

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that nose very easily. As Santa
reaches North America, he has to slow

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down just a bit because the jet
fighters meet him as soon as he enters

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North American airspace and they escort him
through the United States and Canada as a

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final insurance that he makes at home
safely. This impedes his trip just a

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little bit since he flies so much
faster than the jet fighters, but he

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doesn't seem to mind at all.
He understands the need for national security.

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After visiting the homes in the US, Santa heads to Canada. Then it's

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a straight shot north to the North
Pole and home. North America is the

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last place on his route. The
jet fighters escort him the entire way through

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the continent. Then Santa snaps the
reins and pushes the reindeer up to full

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throttle again so he can make it
home quickly. Running a huge toy factory

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is a twenty four to seven three
hundred and sixty five operation, and he

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can't delay getting back. There's a
lot to do before next year. It's

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ninety seconds to midnight, and Norad
is keeping a watchful eye on Chris Kringle

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throughout his flight, making sure that
he arrives home safely to the North Pole

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at the end of his journey.
Sweet p and I wish all of you

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happy holidays and thank you for listening
to Cause of Death. One hundred seconds

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to midnight. Boo boo booz