Watch CBS News

Reality Check: How Does Santa Visit Every Home?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- When we see a man with a white beard, a red suit and a big belt, we assume it's Santa Claus. For those skeptics, Pat Kessler looked into questions about Santa and came up with a special Christmas edition of Reality Check.

There is a lot of mystery about Santa and it is hard to find all the answers. One of the most popular questions: Can reindeer fly?

That is TRUE and here is how we know. Even standing still, we know that Minnesota deer can jump straight up over your teacher's head.

Santa's reindeer are another kind of deer, with a special kind of antler-powered energy to fly high and fast.

How does Santa visit all the homes?

IN FACT, because of different time zones and the rotation of the earth, Santa has 31 hours of Christmas.

Traveling east to west, we expect him to visit Minnesota right around midnight. There are a lot of children to visit as well. Sixty million children under the age of 14 live in the United States.

That's where Santa's list comes in. He DOES have a list of who is naughty and nice, but no one can actually prove he checks it twice.

Even the best behaved children are sometimes naughty and naughty children are often nice, but Santa really cares if you try.

How does Santa come down chimneys?

That's NOT THE HO-HO-WHOLE STORY. Santa might come down some chimneys, but if you don't have one, he'll use a window or a door. That's what he does in other countries. You can keep your doors and windows locked, however. Santa uses his magical powers to get inside.

How do we know Santa is real?

Here is what you NEED TO KNOW-HO-HO.

A long time ago, there was a court case that proves it, in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street."

The post office gets hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa every year and you can find Santa's address on the official U.S. government post office Web site.

So now you know, Santa Claus is coming to town. That's Reality Check.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.