Where is Santa Claus at the moment? Norad allows you to track his Christmas journey.

Watch Santa’s journey with help from NORAD on our streaming channel TODAY All Day, Beginning at 3 p.m. ET on December 24 and continuing until 3 a.m. ET on December 25. ET on December 25. Families can also reach NORAD by phone at (877) HI-NORAD to receive Santa’s up-to-date location.

We are now in the midst of a long tradition: NORAD’s Santa Tracker.

Since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s (NORAD), has played an important role in the holiday season. Though NORAD’s involvement in the holiday began by complete accident and to this day, the organization keeps track of and reports on the whereabouts of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander, U.S. Northern Command and NORAD told TODAY’s Joe Fryer on Dec. 24, 2022, “When Santa takes off from the North Pole, we see him on the radar right away. And then when Rudolph’s nose lights up, our infrared satellite systems pick that up as well.”

December 2020 marked 65 years of the NORAD Santa Tracker. This almost seven-decade-old tradition started in 1955 when a child called a misprinted telephone number from a Christmas advertisement for department stores. Instead of reaching the expected party, the child called U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup at Continental Air Defense Command. (CONAD) was established before NORAD.

“He probably thought for a few moments that it may be some type of a prank call, but he quickly realized it was a young child looking for Santa,” Gen. VanHerck told Kerry Sanders on TODAY in Dec. 2020.

Shoup told the young caller that he was Santa Claus and that CONAD would protect him on his journey from North Pole to the rest of the world.

Shoup died at the age of 91 in 2009. However, the tradition continues today.

This year, it’s anticipated that the tracker on NORAD’s website will receive approximately 12 million visitors while volunteers will likely field about 150,000 phone calls on its Santa hotline to share Santa’s current location and anticipated arrival time.

NORAD states on its website that Santa can be tracked by its radar system (the North Warning System), satellites, and fighter jets. As for when Santa will officially arrive at each child’s home, that time can’t be determined to a T.

NORAD explained its website, “NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house. We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep!”

Each year, NORAD says that Santa’s route starts at the international date line before beginning to travel west. He usually starts in the South Pacific, then moves to Australia and New Zealand, then on to Japan, Asia, Africa, Canada, the United States, and finally finishes in Mexico, Central America and South America.

How is Santa’s trip logistically possible? NORAD claims Santa has a different time perception than the rest.

“His trip seems to take 24 hours to us, but to Santa it might last days, weeks or even months,” the website explains. “Santa would not want to rush the important job of delivering presents to children and spreading joy to everyone, so the only logical conclusion is that Santa somehow functions within his own time-space continuum.”

Gen. VanHerck doesn’t take NORAD’s contribution to the holiday lightly, especially since becoming a grandfather.

“Everywhere I go, people approach me about ‘NORAD Tracks Santa Claus’ and the importance of it,” he explained. “And now that I have two young grandchildren, it is even more special for me personally, and my wife as well.”

This article was first published on TODAY.com