The tradition began in 1955 when a child accidentally called a military commando in Colorado and asked to speak to Santa Claus – after a department store ad that contained a misprinted phone number ran in a local newspaper.

Air Force Commander Harry Shoup, who was manning the phones on Christmas Eve, quickly realized the mistake and assured the child that it was indeed Santa Claus.

As more calls came in that night, Commander Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering calls. This created a tradition that was passed on to Norad when it was founded in 1958.

Every year since then, the agency – which defends and monitors the skies over North America – has answered questions from children about the red-and-white-clad smokestack invader and his unprecedented delivery schedule.

According to Norad, the “only logical conclusion” as to how Santa Claus can circumnavigate the globe in one night is that he “somehow functions within his own time-space continuum.”

“NORAD intelligence reports indicate that Santa Claus does not experience time the same way we do. To us, his journey seems to take 24 hours, but for Santa Claus it can take days, weeks or even months,” the agency explained.

Santa Claus usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west.

So historically, Santa Claus visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia. He then shoots to Japan, on to Asia, across to Africa, then to Western Europe, Canada, the USA, Mexico and Central and South America.

“Remember that Santa’s route can be affected by the weather and is therefore truly unpredictable,” explains Norad on his website.

“NORAD tracks Santa Claus, but only Santa Claus knows his route,” says the military organization’s website, “which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your home.” We know from history However, he only seems to arrive when the children are asleep! In most countries, Santa Claus appears to arrive between 9:00 p.m. and midnight on December 24th. If the children are still awake when Santa Claus arrives, he moves on to other houses. He’ll come back later, but only when the kids are asleep!”

The military’s tradition of tracking Santa Claus on his gravity-defying flight around the globe will continue this Christmas Eve even as the U.S. government shuts down, officials said Friday.

“We expect Santa to fly on December 24 and NORAD will track him,” the US-Canadian agency said in a statement.

On any other night, NORAD scans the skies for potential threats, like last year’s Chinese spy balloon. But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ask themselves questions like, “When is Santa Claus coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?”

The endeavor is supported by local and corporate sponsors who also help protect the tradition from dysfunction in Washington.

NORAD has an online tracker that allows children to watch Santa Claus travel around the world in real time. This year’s website launched on December 1st and currently features a village at the North Pole and a countdown to Christmas Eve.

The website shows Santa’s location from 4:00 a.m. ET on Christmas Eve to 2:00 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Families can also download NORAD’s Santa Tracker app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Anyone wishing to call NORAD can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) on December 24th from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Christmas Day ET.

Google will also have its own version of a Santa Claus tracker, which will go live on December 24th. Similar to NORAD’s tracker, Google has a countdown timer to Christmas Eve and various games that can be played before Santa’s card goes live.

Hello and Merry Christmas! Santa Claus is finally coming to town and we’re ready to follow his journey live as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) tracks him once again as he makes his way around the globe.

There are still 10 hours until he leaves, so get ready, put on some Christmas songs and join us in preparing for his departure.