Over at CONAD, all was calm and well, when US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations at the nuclear missile base, noticed the red phone on his desk ringing. Col. Shoup had two phones, and you can imagine what the red one was for. "Only a four-star general at the Pentagon and my dad had the number," recalled his daughter Pam.
Presumably fearing the worst, Col. Shoup picked up the receiver. Pam continues: "And then there was a small voice that just asked, 'Is this Santa Claus?'"
Shoup was a straight-laced and disciplined man – much as you would expect for the director of operations at the US's nuclear HQ – and he reacted with due annoyance, suspecting he was the victim of a practical joke. But then the little voice started crying.
"And Dad realised that it wasn't a joke," says Shoup's daughter. "So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho'd and asked if he had been a good boy and, 'May I talk to your mother?' And the mother got on and said, 'You haven't seen the paper yet?
"'There's a phone number to call Santa. It's in the Sears ad.'"
Shoup took the reins and ran with them. Soon, he was on local radio every hour, updating listeners on the whereabouts of an unidentified flying object that had the unmistakable look of a sleigh.
From one small mistake, a tradition was born. Every year hence, the nuclear has run a Christmas Eve hotline for children, updating them on the whereabouts of the Great Benefactor In The Sky.
IT'S Christmas Day now and that means one thing - you can track where Father Christmas has been on his journey delivering presents around the world.
Viewers can use the interactive map from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) to keep up to speed with the big guy's progress this year.
NORAD Track Santa NORAD's annual Santa Claus tracker
On schedule for his midnight arrival in the UK, Santa had already checked in at Greece by around 8pm, was in Mozambique by 8.40pm, before stopping off at South Africa's Cape Town at 9pm.
Usually responsible for defending airspace, NORAD has been offering children and adults alike a way of keeping their eye on Santa's sleigh since 1955.
The tradition was allegedly started by accident, when a local advertisement inviting kids to call Santa Claus accidentally misprinted the number.
The number they called put them through to Norad's Commander-in-Chief's operations hotline.
Since 1955, NORAD has been helping children (and adults) keep an eye on Father Christmas' mammoth journey
Santa Claus will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres around the globe tonight
Colonel Harry Shoup, who later became affectionately known as Santa Colonel, answered the first of these calls.
He gamely asked his staff to check if there was any indication of Father Christmas's movements on the radar.
A spokesman explained: "Indeed there were signs of Santa, and children who called in were given an update on Santa’s position.
"Thus, the tradition was born."
Reuters US President Donald Trump was amongst those fielding excited children's calls on NORAD's behalf
Reuters Trump was joined by First Lady Melania, also on hand to answer calls from kids in up to 200 countries
These days, NORAD is able to provide users with an exact GPS location of Santa's position online, and is also available on the Apple, Android and Windows app stores.
But over 70,000 children from 200 countries will still phone the hotline for a personal update on Santa's whereabouts.
They may even get to speak to President Donald Trump, or First Lady Melania, who are scheduled to field calls alongside more than 1,500 volunteers.
The team say they use infrared radar, defence satellites and other surveillance equipment to follow him through the skies.
Many children across the globe still phone the NORAD call centre looking for a personal update on Santa's location
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Over the course of the night, Father Christmas will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres - roughly 1,800 miles per second.
The big guy has just the western coast of the Americas and the Pacific Islands to do before this year's work is done.
IT'S Christmas Day now and that means one thing - you can track where Father Christmas has been on his journey delivering presents around the world.
Viewers can use the interactive map from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) to keep up to speed with the big guy's progress this year.
NORAD Track Santa NORAD's annual Santa Claus tracker
On schedule for his midnight arrival in the UK, Santa had already checked in at Greece by around 8pm, was in Mozambique by 8.40pm, before stopping off at South Africa's Cape Town at 9pm.
Usually responsible for defending airspace, NORAD has been offering children and adults alike a way of keeping their eye on Santa's sleigh since 1955.
The tradition was allegedly started by accident, when a local advertisement inviting kids to call Santa Claus accidentally misprinted the number.
The number they called put them through to Norad's Commander-in-Chief's operations hotline.
Since 1955, NORAD has been helping children (and adults) keep an eye on Father Christmas' mammoth journey
Santa Claus will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres around the globe tonight
Colonel Harry Shoup, who later became affectionately known as Santa Colonel, answered the first of these calls.
He gamely asked his staff to check if there was any indication of Father Christmas's movements on the radar.
A spokesman explained: "Indeed there were signs of Santa, and children who called in were given an update on Santa’s position.
"Thus, the tradition was born."
Reuters US President Donald Trump was amongst those fielding excited children's calls on NORAD's behalf
Reuters Trump was joined by First Lady Melania, also on hand to answer calls from kids in up to 200 countries
These days, NORAD is able to provide users with an exact GPS location of Santa's position online, and is also available on the Apple, Android and Windows app stores.
But over 70,000 children from 200 countries will still phone the hotline for a personal update on Santa's whereabouts.
They may even get to speak to President Donald Trump, or First Lady Melania, who are scheduled to field calls alongside more than 1,500 volunteers.
The team say they use infrared radar, defence satellites and other surveillance equipment to follow him through the skies.
Many children across the globe still phone the NORAD call centre looking for a personal update on Santa's location
MOST READ IN NEWS ICELAND ANGER Disabled woman in tears after Iceland left her without turkey and Xmas treats SUCKER PUNCH Shocking moment Winter Wonderland security 'knocks out' restrained visitor 'I WANT MUMMY BACK' Sky Sports host Simon Thomas shares son's heartbreaking letter to Santa 'I'M HORRIFIED' Mum's fury as men who had drink-drug 'orgy' with girls, aged 14, walk free SHOOTING DRAMA Man shot in the head in front of horrified Xmas shoppers outside Primark
Over the course of the night, Father Christmas will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres - roughly 1,800 miles per second.
The big guy has just the western coast of the Americas and the Pacific Islands to do before this year's work is done.
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We're tracking the big man himself with NORAD! At 1 p.m., Santa was headed for Dubai, and more than 2,090,000,000 gifts had been delivered!
