Santa Claus took off early Christmas Eve aboard his reindeer-powered sleigh to deliver presents around the world.

That is according to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad), a joint-US and Canadian military command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs that for 69 years has provided a whimsical report tracking Father Christmas.

Tracking would have gone ahead even if the federal government had shut down, a crisis the US Congress averted at the last moment this past weekend.

“Santa runs on the Christmas spirit so any possible government actions would not affect his mission,” said Royal Canadian Air Force Major Jennie Derenzis, a Norad spokesperson, on Tuesday.

Military personnel at the base, which monitors air defences and issues aerospace and maritime warnings, would have been happy to track Santa anyway, and the people who answer the phone lines for kids as part of the tradition are mostly civilian volunteers, Derenzis added.

The tradition started in 1955 when an advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper invited children to call in to speak to Santa. However, it inadvertently gave the phone number for the Continental Air Defence Command, Norad’s predecessor.

An on-duty officer took calls from kids and assured them Santa, also known as Kris Kringle or St. Nick, was making his gift-giving rounds as scheduled.

The programme improved along with tracking technology for all types of vessels.

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Followers of the jolly old elf can obtain real-time updates at www.noradsanta.org. The website features Santa’s North Pole Village, which includes a holiday countdown, games, a movie theatre, holiday music, web store, and is available in multiple languages.

Norad Tracks Santa is also available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, and platforms Amazon Alexa, SiriusXM and OnStar.