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.
Story highlights This is the 62nd year of the program's existence
It began because of a typo in a store ad
(CNN) The US military command that is charged with protecting the airspace for North America is on alert this Christmas weekend for a man with a white beard and a red suit.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is tracking a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer around the world as it heads for US airspace Sunday night.
The public can access NORAD's official Santa Tracker to watch Santa Claus' voyage. They can track his whereabouts and access NORAD's "Santa Cams" as he journeys around the world to bring joy to good boys and girls.
The public can also call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) and speak live with NORAD trackers. People stuck in the car on the way to Grandmother's house, and with an OnStar subscription, can access the tracker by hitting their OnStar button. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump also participated in phone calls.
Marine Col. Bob Brodie of the 601st Air Operations Center said fighter jets will "fly along (Santa's) wing" in a "close escort," and that the center will "monitor him with our satellites and even have infrared trackers to follow Rudolph."
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Every Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) deploys its cutting-edge technologies to track Santa Claus‘ movements as he scrambles to deliver presents to children around the world.
A joint Canadian-American venture, NORAD’s day job is to provide air security and aerospace warning services. But come the holiday season, the organization takes on the added responsibility of providing minute-by-minute updates on Santa’s whereabouts.
READ MORE: ‘I do not live in Canada,’ says Santa Claus, challenging government’s claim
This year, Canadians can keep tabs on Santa’s journey on the 2017 NORAD Santa Tracker website, the official Facebook and Twitter pages, and via NORAD’s official Santa Tracker app, available for Apple, Android and Windows devices.
Google also offers its own Santa-tracking website, complete with a variety of games and an advent calendar.
But if you’d rather keep it old school, you can simply dial 1-877-HI-NORAD to speak to a volunteer.
WATCH: Keep track of Santa as he travels around the world
But how exactly does NORAD keep track of Santa’s magical sleigh? Thanks to Rudolph, and a little technology, the process is quite simple.
NORAD says its command centre’s Defense Support Program satellites use an infrared sensor to detect heat signatures from Rudolph’s nose to provide accurate tracking of the sleigh.
WATCH: President Trump spent part of Christmas Eve wishing the troops a happy holiday and answering phone calls from kids checking to see if Santa is on the way.
The NORAD Santa Tracker project began after an advertisement misprinted a telephone number for kids to reach Santa, causing kids to call the commander-in-chief of the now-defunct Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) back in 1955
It may have been an inconvenience at the time, but it sparked an annual tradition that was taken over by NORAD in 1958.
WATCH: NORAD reminds kids to be asleep for Santa to stop by
This year, Santa’s sleigh route will see him head south from the North Pole before travelling west through Asia, down through Africa and then north through Europe before making the trans-Atlantic journey to visit North and South America.
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IT'S Christmas Day now and that means one thing - you can track Father Christmas on his journey around the world.
Press play on the interactive map from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) below, to keep up to speed with just where the big guy has been - and when he's coming for you.
NORAD Santa Tracker
NORAD Track Santa NORAD's annual Santa Claus tracker is back to let you keep an eye on his journey
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
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' movements on the radar.
Santa Claus will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres around the globe tonight
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."
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.
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
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.
So while he's likely to have some very exhausted reindeer, you can grab a bit of peace and quiet tonight by settling the kids down to watch him go.
Just don't forget to lay out a mince pie for jolly old St. Nick, and some carrots for the reindeer, before they gets close.
So snuggle up with the kids and watch out for those exhausted reindeer
