Santa’s deliveries have begun, track his journey HERE

Last year, hundreds of volunteers, including many NORAD employees and Michelle Obama, fielded 135,000 calls from 234 countries.

NORAD spokesman Mike Kucharek said a squadron of fighter jets briefly escort Santa’s sleigh when he enters Canadian and United States air space.

“It’s one of the largest military community relations events we have”, Gordinier said. All aircraft are reported to have a unique code to identify themselves.

Santa Claus himself – is getting ready to deliver toys to the good boys and girls around the world tonight. “That’s his call sign”. The journey begins at 1 a.m. CST Thursday. He then works his way west in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

“Google s Santa Tracker launches today – And it s time to follow the jolly man s sleigh”, the California-based Internet firm said in a blog post playfully penned in rhyme.

They can also send an email to noradtracksanta@outlook.com.

The call center in a training building will be staffed for 23 hours. The program has been online since 1997, and its website – www.noradsanta.org – gets requests from children from around the world. “Santacams” stream videos from various locations. Stephen Nissenbaum in his book “The Battle for Christmas” mentions Robert Sedgwick and his wife Eliza used to hang stockings in their homes so that Santa Claus could visit their children.

In 1955, a Sears & Roebuck advertisement in Colorado Springs, CO, urged children to call Santa, but the number was misprinted. Families say what’s most important about taking their little ones to see Santa are not only the pictures but the memories. Instead of turning the calls away, the director of operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff provide radar-tracked updates of Santa’s location.