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.
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Each year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) launches an interactive tool for kids to track Santa’s progress around the world on Christmas Eve.
This year is no different and the official NORAD Santa Tracker is now LIVE. Just hit play in the video above to see where Santa is right now.
You can follow jolly old St. Nick as he makes his journey around the world visiting each and every boy and girl.
At around 10pm, Father Christmas and his reindeers were seen flying over Czech Republic, Austria and Poland.
That means he is bang on time to arrive in the UK at midnight so please make sure all children are tucked up in bed and asleep by the time Santa comes shuffling down the chimney.
(Image: NORAD Tracks Santa)
(Image: NORAD Tracks Santa)
Kids can also phone NORAD to check where Father Christmas is, and tonight Donald and Melania Trump are among those answering the phones.
The president, First Lady and NORAD staff are providing details of Santa's last known location - as well as encouraging children to get to bed early on Christmas Eve.
Over the course of the evening, the bearded sky wizard travels an estimated 317,000,000 miles, moving at a speed of 1,800 miles per second and calling in on 390,000 homes every minute.
NORAD doesn't just track Father Christmas either, there US agency has plenty of interactive elements on its festive site.
There are games and facts all about Santa's sleigh, his route and the reindeer that will be helping him.
(Image: REUTERS)
Traditionally NORAD is responsible for defending airspace, but for the last sixty years has embraced a tradition of following the bearded sky wizard around the world.
Santa - or Father Christmas to us Brits - will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometers over the course of one night - moving at a speed of 10,703,437.5km/hr.
That works out at roughly 1,800 miles per second, and some very tired reindeer.
Volunteers are also on the phone lines at a call centre, taking around 70,000 phone from children in 200 countries asking where Santa is.
But sorry - the agency says it won't reveal how it manages to locate Santa Claus
You can also email or call the NORAD team too!
(Image: NORAD)
(Image: NORAD Tracks Santa)
The website lists the email address as: noradtrackssanta@outlook.com
It also says you can phone the call centre on 00-1-719-556-5211.
A staff member will reply and provide details of Santa's last known location - and also encourage your children to get to bed.
How many houses does Father Christmas visit?
According to the tracker, Santa will call in on 390,000 homes every minute during his Christmas Eve rush.
If he stops to scoff down a mince pie at each one, he will have consumed around 71,764,000,000 in the course of one night.
How did the tradition start?
(Image: Tom Gladstone)
NORAD began tracking Santa when a 1955 advert encouraged children to phone Santa - but gave the wrong number.
When he realised what had happened, Colonel Harry Shoup - who came to be known as the “Santa Colonel” - quickly told his staff to answer the calls with an update on Father Christmas's current position.
It developed into a tradition where volunteers staff call centres on Christmas Eve and take around 70,000 phone calls each year from 200 countries.
However the tracker has adapted with the times, becoming more advanced through the years.
And now it is available online in 3D each year alongside its own Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. It's even got a free app.
Writing to fans on Facebook, NORAD said: "Thank you for letting us be part of the magic Santa.
"We can't wait to track you again this year and help the believers around the world follow your journey."
THE countdown to Christmas Day has begun and you can once again 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
