NEW YORK, NY – The North American Aerospace Defense Command’s yearly tracking of Santa Claus is getting high-tech!

NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has carried on the tradition of tracking Santa Claus throughout Christmas Eve for curious children!

It began in 1955, when a Sears advertisement misprinted “Santa’s” phone number. Children actually began calling NORAD’s predecessor, CONAD. The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, played along and had staff give updates on Santa’s location to the kids.

These days, children can not only call the hotline, they can also track Santa online using Google Earth! Users can watch and track Santa Claus in real time as he travels the world.

Here is some footage from Santa’s trip last year:

To check out the tracking site, visit http://www.noradsanta.org. Or, on Christmas Eve, call 1-877-HI-NORAD to speak to volunteers at the NORAD Track Santa Command Center!