Alert for Sector 1

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Hi elves! North Pole Flight Command has just issued an alert for Sector 1 – we are about to have visitors.

I have seen the alert from Sector 2. I am hearing via the Elf Supervisor channel of other alerts. North Pole Flight Command is up to something.

We have been told to specifically watch the skies over Wiseman’s Creek, that this will be a big opportunity for our Regional Tracking Center. But we are also aware that other areas of Sector 1 may soon see sleighs in the skies as well.

Let’s be ready.

I’m not sure what exactly is happening or why, but this looks a legitimate news maker.

Sector 3 Now on Alert

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Elves – I have news from Flight Command: Sector 3 is now on high alert.

North Pole Flight Command just messaged me that the first sleigh flights over our sector will be happening very soon. How soon? They aren’t specific. And they haven’t officially announced the resumption of test flights. But this alert is the real deal – it came through official channels and was coded perfectly. This is happening, whatever THIS is.

Sector 3 has not had any kind of reporting opportunity yet this season. I think this alert changes things.

As such, I’m asking all active elves to please file a weather report as soon as you can.

Also, be prepared to submit a sleigh sighting report if you see a sleigh.

Due to the serious tone of this alert I’ve gone to 24-hour monitoring here at the Regional Tracking Center here in Bethlehem, South Africa. All elves here will be working double shifts until we know the activity in our sector has ceased.

I will keep you posted.

Slow Sleighs Over Sector 5 Soon

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Hey gang – I just got a weird update from North Pole Flight Command. We have officially been put on alert. It says:

“Sector 5 will soon have slow moving, low flying sleighs in flight. This presents an excellent opportunity for tracker elves to view sleighs in flight. We do not presently have a precise timetable for this event. It will happen quickly. Advise all eyes on the Santa Tracking Map.”

That’s it, for now. When I know more you will know more.

We do have an open request for weather forecasts, specifically for August 23rd and August 24th. Maybe this is why they want the weather updates.

In any event, we should be seeing our first real opportunity of the season.

Keep an eye on North Pole Flight Command, too. They may be making an announcement soon.

Sector 2 Poised for Action

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Attention Elves of Sector 2: I was just alerted by Flight Command to prepare for the first sleighs to fly over Sector 2 sometime in the coming days.

This is not a drill.

I do not have more information at this time. Officially, North Pole Flight Command still has the test flights grounded. But that is evidently changing soon.

I do not know how they will get from the South Pacific, where they are now, to our sector. But I have officially been alerted that it is going to happen.

More details when I know them!

 

Fresh Request for Sector 5

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Gang, I know this might seem confusing. But we need weather forecasts for next week – I’m told specifically for the dates on August 23rd and August 24th.

No – these weather forecasts are not for potential test flights of Santa’s sleigh.

It’s my understanding that a shipment of some sort is scheduled to take place on those dates. It will be coming from the North Pole, through Canada and the United States and maybe as far south as Northern Mexico.

What it is, I can’t tell you. But they want to know what the weather will be like in all areas. They either want to avoid weather, or fly right into it. I don’t know right now.

I’m told I may find out sometime this weekend. They say it’s “no big deal”. We’ll see.

Anyway, if you can accommodate this as soon as you can get a forecast for those dates, it will prove most useful.

Maybe by Saturday or Sunday I’ll be able to give you more information.

Thanks, elves.

An Update for Tracker Elves

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(From the Office of Elf Roger Star – International Director of Santa Trackers) – As you are all well aware, yesterday a test flight of Santa’s sleigh crashed in the South Pacific. If you are following the news reports here and on other official websites of the North Pole, you are as informed as I am about the current status of the test flights.

There have been many from every sector who have questions about what happened and what this event means. The purpose of my statement here today is to clarify the situation as much as I can and to provide direction for tracker elves everywhere about what they can and should be doing right now.

North Pole Flight Command, hours ago, announced that all test flights have been suspended while they conduct an investigation into what happened and how another similar event can be prevented. How long test flights will be suspended is not known at this time.

Regardless, I have instructed elf supervisors of every sector to continue with their plans. That means you MAY receive direction and/or requests from your elf supervisor even if the test flights remain grounded. The operation of test flights never had anything to do with your responsibilities as a tracker. The test flights give us good training and are helpful in developing tracking skills such as spotting Santa’s sleigh in flight. But the test flights are not necessary for you to do your job.

We remind you, that this is a new year and that Santa has placed upon us new expectations in our tracking duties. We must move forward with those things.

Please remain engaged in checking in as frequently as you can for new direction from your elf supervisor.

If and when the test flights resume, you will hear how those flights might impact your sector and if there is an opportunity for you to participate in some way.

For now, assume that all operations are normal, and that you are “on-the-job” in your tracking duties. Your elf supervisor will provide an occasional update of your responsibilities.

Thank you.

Radio News Report of Sleigh Crash

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The North Pole Podcast
The North Pole Podcast
Radio News Report of Sleigh Crash
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Elf Frank Myrrh and Elf Crash Murphy have now filed this radio news report of the crash of a test flight of Santa’s Sleigh.

Chat with Crash This Saturday

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If you are available we invite you over to SantaUpdate.com and North Pole Chat for a conversation with Elf Crash Murphy. This general-audience chat will begin at 1pm EST in the North Pole Chat room at SantaUpdate.com on Saturday, August 20th.

While this chat is not specific to tracker elves I have it on good authority that Crash will be prepaid to update us on the status of the test flights and how tracker elves world wide are doing.

He will also be available to answer any general questions about Santa, Christmas and the North Pole.

Hope you can make it!

Elf Winslow

We Could See Sleighs!

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Greetings Elves of Sector 4!

Heads up to all elves on the west coast of Sector 4 in South America: we have learned from Flight Command that the test flights are moving south, not east. It may be possible that some elves on the far west coast of South America could see sleighs in flight in the coming days.

If you are located there and see a sleigh, please file a sleigh sighting report. We are yet to see one of those come in from any sector so far.

The test flights are scheduled most of the week over the open waters of the Pacific. But they are fairly close to costal areas of Sector 5 right now and they may wander close to our Sector as they head south.

I’m told there is about a 67% chance these flights or parts of them could be visible from land in Sector 4.

I’ll keep you posted.

Sector 5 Alert Possible

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The test flights of Santa’s Sleigh will engage with the North Pole Navy, per Elf Randi’s report from Sector 1 yesterday. But the bigger point is that we’re not entirely sure where the North Pole Navy is at this point.

We have been told we might see some of these test flights at least partially in Sector 5 over the coming days. So we need to alert everyone to a possible alert in the coming days.

Does that sound confusing?

I’m sorry if it does. I just haven’t been informed exactly what is going to happen.

I know this is unfair to you. And it certainly is not normal. But in the early going here of the test flights this is not all that unusual.

So just be ready to be ready. Or be ready to sit still.

I don’t know.

North Pole Navy on the Move

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The North Pole Navy is repositioning for later coordination this next week with flights of Santa’s sleigh. We’re not sure if that means our Sector or Sectors 4 or 5, so I’m just passing along the news. We can anticipate several days of test flights over the Pacific…somewhere.

The coordination with the North Pole Navy is interesting. They serve as floating tracking centers most of the time but they are also emergency landing zones for flying sleighs. Santa has never had to use one that way but a few freighter sleighs and other kinds of flights have found the North Pole Navy to be quite helpful, especially in resting reindeer and breaking up long flights.

Each ship has food, water, medical facilities for both elves and reindeer and even a remote sleigh repair shop. They are there to help if help is needed.

They have already been working on communications with the Navy and that is going well.

But the purpose of these flights, I’m told, is to test sleigh capabilities over open waters. These are very important tests because Santa spends much of his flying time over the oceans.

They will be testing how the sleigh performs in both high and low altitudes, loaded and unloaded, and fast and slow speeds. These tests will be conducted both night and day.

This won’t be a great week for possible sleigh sightings….until maybe later in the week.

One of us will let you know. It depends on where they are going next and weather conditions they want to encounter. Right now, we are not sure where that will be.

I would just tell all sectors to be ready to submit weather reports, especially around the end of the week. So heads up!

Reports Slowly Coming In

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Reports to North Pole Flight Command are a little slow to come in. This is expected.

Hello everyone, Elf Flip here, with an update on our goal this year. In the past, I have updated you on the number of tracker elves recruited each year. With the change of focus to tracker elf reports, my job changes slightly.

Our goal, as announced at the annual tracker elf press conference at the North Pole in July, is to get 1 billion tracker reports. We have a little more than 3,000 reports as of this morning.

I know it sounds like a tiny little dent towards our goal. But I would remind you that last year at this time we had 0 reports by this point in the season.

Some here at Flight Command feel that part of the reason for the low number is because tracker elves for the most part haven’t even checked in yet.

And it is easy to see why that is true. In many parts of the world it is still summertime and many are on vacations. Some elves haven’t even thought of Christmas yet. As elves wake up to the fact that Santa’s flight is soon to be only 100 or so days away, they will come back and check in.

So nobody is really panicked about the report totals. It’s going to happen.

I have spoken to each elf supervisor. They are all very pleased so far with the quality of reports coming in. In fact, there are no issues at this time to tell you about.

Yes, we have a long way to go to that goal. And we recognize that the vast majority of reports will be coming in November and December.

I think it is safe to say that as of right now, we are right on target.