Christmas is a time for familiar stories like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Grinch who Stole Christmas.

But some of the best holiday tales often never make it mainstream. Like the one KPCC listener Bob Weis grew up with as a kid, called "The Red Raider."

"The Red Raider" is a short story written by Frank Kingston Smith. It first appeared in an aviation publication called Flying Magazine back in 1962. The story takes place one Christmas Eve, when the skies erupted with chatter as pilots reported an unidentified flying object.

Weis says his father used to read the story to him and his siblings every Christmas Eve. "We just were riveted by it because it was in a magazine. It was by a noted pilot so it had to be real. We never doubted it."

Now Weis and his wife Diane have put together a contemporized version of the story, complete with narration from Weis's parents and actor Patrick Warburton (of "Seinfeld" and "Family Guy" fame):

While the audio version is a little more modern, Weis says, "I think it's still very heartwarming. It kind of takes you back to a romantic view of Santa Claus and Christmas."

He says what's been great about this new version is that "we get a lot of comments, I think they're mostly from kids, who debate when they see whether or not its real. And it has its own life as a result of that."