Normally, not a creature should be stirring (not even a mouse) when Santa finally makes his journey across the globe and onto rooftops to give gifts to children. But that doesn't stop people from trying to track the big man's reindeer pulled sleigh across the sky as he makes his annual flight around the world.
Since the 1950's the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) meticulously tracked the journey of the man in the red suit. But now, Google also offers its own Santa tracking program. Which one gets first dibs on the nice list?
NORAD's tracker has a fair share of nostalgia attached to it. Although the program never intended to have a holiday element to it, a misprint in a Sears ad promising children that they could speak to Santa Claus himself caused children to mistakenly call the government emergency line instead - one which according to reports, only the Pentagon was supposed to know the number of.
Fortunately, Col. Harry Shoup answered the phone, and not wanting to break the child's heart on the other end, greeted the caller with a Ho ho ho! Ever since then, he assigned some officers to answer the phone as Santa. In time, the idea came to track the flight of Santa's sleigh evolved.
NORAD's website has been receiving 9 million unique visitors from all over the world and volunteers continue to accept calls to Santa.
Google's own Santa tracker, meanwhile, features a sleigh dashboard, which the company coyly said they were able to install, thanks to the help of "one of Santa's many developer elves." Google also uses its own Google Maps technology to let you follow along on Santa's ride.
Google's website also offers interactive games to play on users' browser or Android phones.
Whichever Santa tracker you use this year, just remember, Santa is still checking his naughty and nice lists twice! So be good and watch out for his sleigh in the sky!
