While public anxieties have loomed over the Northeast amid , one sighting will soon bring holiday cheer across the country: Santa Claus.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is once again prepared to track Santa and his reindeer around the world.
NORAD, which is responsible for protecting the skies over the United States and Canada, activates its Santa tracking system at 6 a.m. ET on Christmas Eve. Santa watchers can follow his journey on or they can call the command center at 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to participate in the yearly Christmas tradition.
Volunteers set up the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center on Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado on December 19.
The tracking service can also be accessed through the NORAD Tracks Santa app, social media, Amazon Alexa, OnStar and SiriusXM, according to NORAD.
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This is the 69th year NORAD has tracked Santa’s yuletide journey around the world. It started by accident, , in 1955 when a local newspaper advertisement informed children they could call Santa directly — only the contact number was misprinted. Instead of ringing Old Saint Nick, a child called the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, who answered the child’s call, was quick to realize the mistake and assured the child he was Santa, according to the website. After more calls, Shoup assigned an officer to answer the calls, “and a tradition was born.†That tradition continued when NORAD was formed in 1958.
The Santa tracker site receives millions of visitors from around the world each year, according to NORAD, and volunteers typically answer more than 130,000 calls.
Holiday lights illuminate the world
Red Square, the GUM department store, center, and St. Basil's Cathedral, right, are decorated for the New Year and Christmas festivities, seen Dec. 13 through a window of the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow in Moscow, Russia.
Coco Jones performs Dec. 4 during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after being lit Dec. 4 during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York.
A 42-meter-tall candle, which is actually an illuminated medieval tower, shines Nov. 30 in the historic city centre of Schlitz, Germany.
A large inflatable Santa Claus decorates the stall of a Christmas tree dealer Dec. 3 on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany.
People walk through the annual year-end illumination Dec. 16 in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.
A woman looks at disco and Christmas balls illuminated with lights on display Dec. 18 for the Christmas Festival at a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing.
A child plays Dec. 9 among space-themed holiday lights near a replica of shuttle Independence at Space Center Houston.
A visitor takes photos of a Christmas tree Nov. 20 at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea.
The Los Angeles County Christmas Tree is lit up Dec. 2 at the Jerry Moss Plaza at Music Center in Los Angeles.
People take pictures with Christmas decorations Nov. 22Â at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour in West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong.
Traditional luminarias, also known as farolitos, flicker Dec. 13 throughout the Jemez Historic Site during the annual Lights of Gisewa event in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.
Visitors pose in a sledge for a picture Dec. 5 with Christmas lights and decorations in the background at Covent Garden in London.
People look at the illuminations Nov. 16 at the Wiener Chritkindlmarkt, one of Vienna's most popular Christmas markets, in front of City Hall in Vienna, Austria.
Visitors walk in front of an illuminated Christmas tree Dec. 16 at Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Christmas lights are displayed Nov. 20 on Regent Street in London.
Actors welcome visitors for the Christmas festival of lights Dec. 13 at a zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In this photo taken with a long exposure, a person walks a dog past Christmas lights in a park Dec. 15 in Lenexa, Kan.
People ride a chain carousel Dec. 11 at the Red Square Christmas Fair in Moscow.
Spectators walk on the Champs Élysées Avenue after attending the Nov. 24 illumination ceremony for the Christmas season in Paris.
A couple stops to view Christmas lights on the facade of a building Dec. 4 in downtown Lisbon.
People stand on a bridge Dec. 9 as Christmas lights illuminate the Darsena dei Navigli, the neighborhood named for the canals that run through this area of Milan, Italy.
The supermoon rises Nov. 14 behind street lights in Santiago, Chile.
In a timed exposure, motorists pass a pair of cowboys boots, standing 40 feet tall and 30 feet long, that were decorated with lights for the holidays, on Dec. 10 in San Antonio.
Visitors stand before an illuminated installation, one of many displayed across the Cologne Zoo as part of the China Lights Art Festival, on Dec. 20 in Cologne, Germany.
Visitors walk through the "Cathedral" on the Christmas light trail Nov. 12 as it returns for its 12th year, with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London.
People experience the holiday lights Dec. 11 at the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in Nashville, Tenn.
A Christmas wreath and lights adorn the Windansea surf shack Dec. 12 on Windansea Beach in San Diego.
The Kremlin Wall, the Spasskaya Tower, Red Square, the GUM department store, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge over the Moscow River are decorated Dec. 13 for the New Year and Christmas festivities in Moscow, Russia.
