How to Track Santa From The North Pole To Middle Tennessee On Christmas Eve

Santa and his reindeer have started their magical annual Christmas Eve around-the-world flight; inevitably, kids everywhere are asking the same question: "Where is Santa Claus now?" As they have since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command — NORAD — is keeping an eye on Santa and his sleigh.

For more than 60 years, NORAD has tracked Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve using satellites, jet fighters and secret Santa cameras. The 2016 NORAD Tracks Santa website and apps went live Dec. 1, offering a Christmas countdown, games and other activities, in addition to NORAD's iconic reports on Santa's travels on Christmas Eve.

More than 1,500 volunteers help NORAD track Santa over a 23-hour period on Christmas Eve, according to Lt. Marco Chouinard, the NORAD Tracks Santa spokesperson.

Find where Santa is delivering presents now.

The origins of the tradition are murky, but a consensus seems to be that a child misdialed a number printed for a Santa Claus hotline in a Sears ad and reached the watchfloor at CONAD, a predecessor command to NORAD. Since then and keeping up with evolving technology, NORAD has kept an eye on the world's most famous flyer, designated as "undoubtedly friendly" by the trackers, who spend the other 364 days a year keeping an eye out for aircraft and other flying machines which may have more nefarious intentions.

Find out more about NORAD's tracking of Santa in this NORAD video:

Image via Shutterstock