My grandad told me this wild story about the birth of the #NORAD #SantaTracker once. I didn't believe him but most of it checks out - you can look it up. I think I've got the dates right. Scared me a little when I was a kid. Just... weird stuff. Details... THREAD BEGINS 1/

My grandpa, Oliver, was born in Montrose, Colorado, 1934. Big into trucks & cars, dreams of being in the military but won't pass muster as he put it for his later phys eval - his interest in aircraft doesn't catch fire till Dec 24, 1948 w a strange article in the local paper
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Oliver's 14 now, thinking about his future, when he reads what's supposed to be an official United States Air Force "communique" that's tracking Santa's sleigh, eight reindeer, at 14k feet, the whole bit. It's kiddie stuff, he knows it, only, friends of his have seen things
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This is where it gets weird. Maybe someone at the USAF just thought it'd be fun to get a little press but the 14k sticks in Oliver's craw funny and won't let go. He looks at a map he's got, state parks, etc. 14. It hits him like a freight train - THE 14ers! He had to explain:
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Colorado's got 58 mtn peaks over 14k ft, most of any state. They're called the 14ers. Stick with me here...
Not much to do in Colorado as a teen except sneak out with your Dad's hooch, grab a blanket & stare up at the stars. Skies so clear you can count constellations...
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