So you can track Santa Claus around the world, thanks to NORAD

(CNN) – Santa Claus has filled his sleigh with toys for all the good boys and girls and has made sure the reindeer are ready for take off. Now, they travel the world to visit millions of homes.

While you wait to hear the bells ringing in the air announcing that Santa is near, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has a tracking system to show the progress of the jolly man around the world.

NORAD, which is responsible for protecting the skies over the United States and Canada, activates its Santa Claus tracking system at 6 am ET on Christmas Eve. People can follow Santa’s journey around the world on the NORAD website or they can call the command center at 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723).

A live operator, or a recording, will give the caller the current whereabouts of Santa.

“Due to covid-19 concerns, NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operations Center will have fewer phone carriers, so callers who do not contact a volunteer will hear a regularly updated recording of Santa’s current location.” , the NORAD press release reads.

The tracking service can also be accessed through Amazon Alexa, OnStar and the search engine Bing, according to the press release.

This is the 66th year that NORAD has been tracking Santa’s Christmas trip around the world. It started by accident, according to the press release, in 1955, when an ad in a local newspaper informed children that they could call Santa directly; only the contact number was misprinted.

Instead of communicating with Santa, the phone rang with the crew commander on duty, US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, at the Operations Center of the Continental Air Defense Command, the predecessor of NORAD. “the statement read. “Colonel Shoup quickly realized that a mistake had been made and assured the boy that he was Santa.”

This is how the tradition began, according to NORAD, and has been maintained since NORAD was created in 1958. The tracking service has been used by millions of families and children around the world, according to NORAD.