Every year on Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), located next door to Pueblo in Colorado Springs, takes on an important mission.

Since 1955, children across the country and around the world have relied on NORAD to keep track and keep abreast of the movements of the one and only Santa Claus as he delivers gifts to children around the world.

And it all started with a misprinted number in a Sears ad.

Here’s what you should know about NORAD’s Santa Claus tracker and when boys and girls who made the big man’s nice list can expect its release.

When does NORAD’s Santa Claus tracker go online?

The NORAD Tracks Santa website went live on December 1st. In addition to the popular Santa Tracker, which begins monitoring Santa’s movements starting around 4 a.m. on the morning of Christmas Eve, the site features Santa’s North Pole Village with holiday-themed games and music and a countdown to the tracker’s annual launch.

The website is available in nine languages ​​and the NORAD Tracks Santa app is also available in the Apple App and Google Play stores. According to NORAD, the tracker will also be available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X.

Those without internet access worldwide can also call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) from 6 a.m. to midnight MST on December 24 to ask live operators for Santa’s location .

When will Google’s Santa tracker be active?

Although NORAD has been leading the effort to track Kriss Kringle for 69 years, they aren’t the only ones keeping an eye on the world’s leading pioneer in package delivery.

Google runs its own popular Santa tracker, which goes live on December 24th.

The tech company’s Santa Tracker website is already live and currently features Christmas-themed games as well as its own countdown clock for the Santa Tracker to go live.

Why did NORAD start tracking Santa Claus?

The tradition began in 1955 when the Continental Air Defense Command – NORAD’s predecessor – received a call over a secret telephone line that went directly to the Pentagon.

Only Air Force Col. Harry Shoup and a four-star general knew the phone number.

“If that rang, it wasn’t good news,” Shoup’s daughter, Terri Van Keuren, told the Coloradoan in 2018.

But the caller on the phone was not a military general or Pentagon official warning the command of a new threat to national security, but a child eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.

After speaking with the child’s mother, Shoup discovered a misprint in a Sears ad that appeared in the morning newspaper that had resulted in the command’s top-secret number being published instead of that of Sears’ Santa line.

Shoup stationed some airmen at the red phone to answer incoming calls from children who wanted to talk about their Christmas lists.

He then resolved the issue with the phone company and received a new phone number. Although Shoup didn’t know it at the time, he had just started a new tradition.

Nearly seven decades later, the annual pursuit of Santa Claus continues.

More than 1,250 Canadian and American uniformed personnel and Department of Defense civilians volunteer time every December 24 to answer the thousands of phone calls and emails received from around the world.

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Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news and subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: When is Santa Claus coming to Colorado? Follow his movements here