ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It's just about time for Santa to climb in his sleigh and take to the sky with his reindeer to deliver presents around the world.
As he makes his annual trip, it means you can actively track where he is and where he's going on Christmas Eve, thanks to NORAD.
"NORAD Tracks Santa" is a holiday tradition that began with a fluke phone call and has grown into a massive volunteer operation.
Kids across the U.S. have been calling 1-877-HI-NORAD (446-6723) for decades and hundreds of volunteers comprised of military members, Defense Department civilians, their families and supporters have been answering.
The call center opens at 6 a.m. ET on Dec. 24. You'll also be able to track Santa online here.
Today, kids from one to 92 (and older) can track Santa's flight online via the "NORAD Tracks Santa" app. You can even ask Amazon's Alexa where he is.
But in 1955, it was just another night for the people working at NORAD's predecessor, Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado.
A young boy from Colorado Springs phoned the center asking to know where ol' St. Nick was after following the directions listed in a department store's newspaper ad, NORAD said. Turns out, the phone number on the ad was misprinted and directed children to the operations center.
Air Force Col. Harry Shoup was the man who picked up the phone, and, rather than being a "Scrooge," he answered the boy's call, along with all the others who rang in from the misprinted number.
From there, a new tradition was born and continued when NORAD was formed in 1958.