NORAD tracks Santa around the world on Christmas Eve

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) helps keep Americans safe by monitoring the sea and skies for threats to the U.S. And every December, they track a much more welcome visitor: Santa Claus.

NORAD has tracked Santa for more than 60 years. Spokesperson Capt. Chase McFarland said the project started out as an accident. 

"Back in 1955 a kid accidentally called to the NORAD phones," McFarland said on CBSN, "and luckily enough we had someone who took the opportunity pass along Santa's message and talked about gifts the kid would be receiving. Ever since that day we've been doing it since."

On Christmas Eve, NORAD spotted Santa flying over Afghanistan, India, Russia, Nepal, Tibet, Ireland and Iceland. The company said that it tracks Santa with infrared sensors from Rudolph's nose, this helps determine his exact location throughout the night.

As of 7 p.m. ET, NORAD reports that Santa has delivered more than 4 million gifts -- with that number moving as fast as Santa is traveling around the globe tonight.

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