For generations, Santa has had deer haul him all around the world, but no one has asked how. Some might say magic, others say Christmas Spirit. I, however, think there might be a logical way for reindeer to fly beyond the normal “Christmas Spirit”. Using science, natural selection, and truthful stories, this is how reindeers can fly.
The Karman Line is a line that is theorized to be the line between air and space, the difference being air that humans can breathe and the vacuum that space creates. Air and oxygen are not the same thing, however, as air is the mixture of gasses on earth and oxygen is what humans can comfortably breathe. Gravity also plays a role in this research because gravity is what keeps the air and oxygen on Earth. That is where my first theory lies.
Gravity has been known to hold many things up in orbit, such as satellites, rockets, and deadly asteroids that just narrowly avoid our planet, but most artificial objects in orbit fall out of orbit eventually. This can be used for good, however. In certain places, there are airplanes that can go up into the air and have the feeling of zero gravity, as seen by Zero-G (read here if you want more information on that). Santa can use this to his advantage, using the technique of manipulating the locomotive to get the reindeer to fly, but keep in mind that he needs to land on multiple houses, meaning he doesn’t need to go that far in between.
Bringing the Karman Line back into this, Santa must stay away from that line. This has been the end to multiple Santas of the past, whether that be just floating away and never being seen again or just going too high and when coming back down, everything burning to a crisp. Many don’t know of its existence, but in between the Karman Line and Earth, there is a secret theorized line called “The Krinkle Line”. This is the line that all Santas must follow to a tee because of the danger that lies outside of it.
This isn’t to say that gravity, air, and oxygen are the only things involved in this defying of physics. The reindeer themselves are different from what we would consider normal reindeer, as the Christmas Reindeers have certain evolutionary traits that are crucial to their survival. Most modern illustrations don’t show this trait because it is so easy to overlook, but Santa’s reindeer actually have wing-like skins on their legs like Flying Squirrels to help them glide and/or get balanced in the sky.
Their fur is a light, yet dense coating for them, and because of the light fur, air is able to get caught in it, keeping them in the sky for extended periods of time. However, this isn’t without hiccups. Their fur was so soft and light that they were hunted and poached to near extinction. Santa was able to save a few of them and keep them all safe in the North Pole, but that is why most reindeer do not have the extra skin and special fur.
As the climate became harsher, Santa wasn’t able to see quite as well as he once was able to. The reindeer, now indebted to him for saving them, recognized this and started to craft ideas to fix this issue. Years went by and experiments went wrong, until one day. That one day, a baby reindeer was born with a glowing red nose. However, this reindeer wasn’t strong enough to handle himself on the field, sadly passing away on his 4th birthday. However, he had managed to have a child, and that child went on to become Rudolf, the very one with a nose so bright.
While both of these ideas are good, they need the last, and arguably the most important part, to make the magic; the sleigh. The sleigh often changes based on the story, but the most accurate representation of Santa’s sleigh is in Elf, starring Will Ferrell. The sleigh also has some engines that run, but it mostly works as a backup in case of emergencies. The sack is also important to note. I’m not going to jump around the truth, the sack is magic. Depending on what house and how naughty and/or nice the people inside are, presents appear in the sack to be given to the Christmas-goers.
Regardless if you can handle this truth, or if you believe in another truth, the people behind the Profile are sending warm holiday cheers to anyone and everyone this holiday season.
