Every Christmas Eve, Norad — the North American Aerospace Defense Command — provides real-time tracking of Santa’s sleigh as it navigates the skies.The cherished tradition dates back to 1955 when a misprint in a department store advert led a young child to call a Colorado military command center asking to speak to Santa Claus.

Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent ...