“We have the watch” is the tagline of NORAD the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The bi-national organization, a partnership between the United States and Canada headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, typically keeps that watch by monitoring and assessing man-made objects in space. The “detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles,” according to the website, is the organization’s main mission.

But, since Dec. 24, 1955, when an inadvertent call came in on the NORAD (then the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) “red phone,” the organization has been devoted to continuing to fulfill the request that came in that night. After a Colorado Springs Sears Roebuck newspaper advertisement with a misprinted phone number on which children could call to speak with Santa ran that year, calls from children were fielded by the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s hotline, according to the NORAD website. Colonel Harry Shoup, the Director of Operations that December, instructed his staff to keep track on the radar for signs that Santa was headed south from his North Pole headquarters.

Although children calling the hotline were hoping for a conversation with the man in red himself, they ended their calls with updates on his location. In 1958, according to the website, United States and Canadian governments created NORAD, which picked up the Santa tracking tradition.Volunteers, including NORAD personnel and their friends and family, devote time to field calls and emails from children each year and provide them with updates on Santa’s position and estimated arrival times.

“It all starts,” the website says, “with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System.” With 47 installations throughout Canada’s northern territory and Alaska, NORAD checks radar for indications of Santa’s North Pole Departure. As soon as radar indicates that Santa’s on his way, NORAD engages their satellites – the same used to provide warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America the other 364 days of the year.

These fixed-position satellites, 22,300 miles above Earth, use heat sensing infrared technology to track the heat signature from Rudolph’s nose, which according to the website, is similar to the enormous amount of heat generated by a rocket or missile launch.

Finally, NORAD utilizes SantaCams, which entered their Santa tracking protocol in 1998. That’s also the year the NORAD Santa tracking system went online. These pre-positioned cameras situated at famous locations globally are only used on Dec. 24 and are only powered up one hour before Santa enters a country. They are switched off just as soon as photographic confirmation of Santa’s arrival is obtained, according to the website. The images are made available on the NORAD website immediately, and the cameras provide both video and still images of the man and his deer.

Taking off from Newfoundland, Canadian fighter pilots flying CF-18s escort Santa into North American airspace. Once he crosses the border between Canada and the United States, according to the website, American NORAD pilots escort him in F-15s, F16s, or F22s. The website claims that Santa actually has to slow down for the pilots to provide this escort.

“We’re the only organization that has the technology, the qualifications, and the people to do it,” the website says of the Santa Tracking tradition, that began through a happy accident and has been carried on for 61 years.

While NORAD offers the disclaimer that only Santa knows his route, and that they’ can’t predict his exact arrival at any home since he only appears to land after children have fallen asleep, they estimate based on past experience that he arrives in most countries between 9 p.m. and midnight on Dec. 24. NORAD has learned that Santa generally begins his disbursement of the world’s Christmas gifts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, traveling west from there. That means that he generally goes from the South Pacific to New Zealand and Australia first, moving westward through Europe, Canada, and the United States before finishing up in Mexico and Central/South America. The NORAD website reminds that weather can affect Santa’s route, making each year’s travel ultimately unpredictable. “NORAD coordinates with Santa’s Elf Launch Staff to confirm launch time,” the website states, “but from that point on, Santa calls the shots.”

NORAD confirms on their website that the only criteria for a family to receive a visit from Santa is a belief in him. Religion, race, and other demographics appear to be entirely inconsequential to him. NORAD also has learned that Santa can travel the entire world because, like the constraints of ideology, Santa appears to be free of the constraints of time as we experience it. “His trip seems to take 24 hours to us,” the website states, “but to Santa it might last days, weeks or even months.” The website goes on to conclude that “Santa somehow functions within his own time-space continuum.”

And all without plutonium, flux capacitors or Deloreans. That’s what makes him so magical.

That and, according to its website, NORAD estimates him to be at least 16 centuries old.

According to the website, “based on flight profile data gathered from 60 years of NORAD’s radar and satellite tracking, NORAD concludes that Santa probably stands about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 260 pounds (before cookies). Based on fighter-aircraft photos, we know he has a generous girth (belly), rosy cheeks from sleigh riding in cold weather, and a flowing white beard.”

NORAD has no definitive intelligence to explain how he manages ingress and egress into children’s homes via chimney.

As for the sleigh, Norad estimates that it’s a K. Kringle & Elves, Inc. model probably manufactured and first flown circa 343 A.D. It’s homebase is of course the North Pole, and it has a length of 75 candy canes (150 lollipops), a width of 40 candy canes (80 lollipops), and a height of 55 candy canes (110 lollipops). All measurements are without reindeer attached.

NORAD estimates Santa’s sleigh to weigh around 75,000 gumdrops at takeoff (with Santa carrying a passenger weight of 260 pounds). The gift weight at takeoff is estimated at 60,000 tons. After accumulating ice and snow, NORAD estimates that the sleigh weighs around 80,000 gumdrops at landing, and that Santa’s landing weight is circa 1,260 pounds.

Ouch.

The sleigh is estimated to have a propulsion rate of nine rp (reindeer power), which, when you think about it, seems like pretty solid logic, and is armed with antlers which are used only for defense. The sleigh is fueled by hay, oats, and carrots and its emissions are “classified,” the NORAD website states. It can climb at a rate of one twinkle of an eye, and has a max speed of faster than starlight.

The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center becomes fully operational beginning at 5 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 24 this year. Volunteer Santa Trackers will be available by calling 1-877-446-6723. A call to that number, according to the website, will put callers on the line with a staff member who can tell them Santa’s exact location at the time of their call. Operators will remain available until 5 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 25 to answer calls. Emails can be sent to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com, and a NORAD staff member will return emails with Santa’s last know location. Santa can also be tracked on mobile phones through the official Windows 10 app, with live chatting with NORAD operators available.

For more information on NORAD Tracks Santa, visit www.noradsanta.org.