NORAD Santa Tracker live to track Santa Clause

Each holiday season NORAD gears up to track Santa on Christmas Eve.

The North America Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has its headquarters in Colorado Springs, has tracked Santa as he trav erses the globe since 1955. This year, the countdown website features games, music, books, videos for the enjoyment of children.

The main event doesn't commence until Christmas Eve, when Santa enthusiasts can track his annual flight on the website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and the NORAD Tracks Santa mobile app.

There's also a phone number to call to reach the NORAD Tracks Santa Operation Center starting at 4 a.m. on Dec. 24 (877-466-6723).

The Santa Tracker program started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs printed a newspaper ad that invited kids to call a certain phone number to talk to Santa. The number was misprinted, and the calls ended up going to the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.

The colonel on duty that night realized the mistake. He ordered his officers and his troops to start tracking Santa using our systems and telling the kids where Santa was throughout the night.

"While the tradition of tracking Santa began purely by accident, NORAD continues to track Santa," according to the website. "We're the only organization that has the technology, the qualifications, and the people to do it. And we love it! NORAD is honored to be Santa's official tracker!"

As the official tracker, NORAD has the scoop on Santa. For instance, their intelligence indicates Santa is at least 16 centuries old, is about 5-foot-7 and weighs about 260 pounds (before cookies), according to the FAQS.

And the sleigh is 74 cc (candy canes) long and carries about 60,000 tons of gifts at takeoff.

As for the age-old question, "Is there a Santa Claus?" this is what NORAD has to say: "Mountains of historical data and NORAD tracking information leads us to believe that Santa Claus is alive and well in the hearts of people throughout the world."

With the pandemic still interfering, Dr. Anthony Fauci put his 10 cents in and said Santa Claus won't 'be spreading any infections to anybody' when he travels the world on Christmas.

He's making his list, checking it twice and won't be spreading COVID-19 to anyone naughty or nice. Despite the coronavirus pandemic leading to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit travel during the holidays, Santa doesn't have to worry about any of those restrictions, according to Fauci.

"Santa is exempt from this because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity," Fauci told USA TODAY. "Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody."

There will also be some changes impacting Santa's assistants at the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Because of the pandemic, not as many volunteers can help out at once. So those calling NORAD’s call center to check on Santa’s whereabouts, may get a recorded update on Santa’s current location.