For as long as anybody can remember on December 25th families across the world have woken to find their homes filled with presents.

The reasons for this have baffled both scientists and security experts for years – particularly as it seems to happen simultaneously across towns and cities. There are a number of theories about why and how this occurs.

The most popular suggestion is that the responsibility lies with a portly older gentleman identifiable by his red suit and a long white beard. Many people believe that he is able to leave presents by gaining access to homes by descending down their chimneys. The most intriguing aspect of the story is that nobody has been able to capture the gentleman’s image on camera.

This year councils and police forces in the UK will be taking steps to determine the whereabouts of this gentleman by using local CCTV networks to monitor rooftop activity.  Reports have reached us that people have witnessed CCTV cameras up and down the country moving so they can focus on local domestic chimney stacks.  A number of councils and constabularies have been asked to comment on these reports, but they have all refused to provide any answers.

When we asked Hugh Barker (Managing Director at icomply), if he could provide any answers he said “Client confidentiality prevents me from discussing this. However, hypothetically speaking, if a CCTV control room needed to keep an eye on several hundred chimneys all at the same time our VTAS pro system would be on hand to assist them.”

A senior officer working in the community safety team of one of the largest urban councils in the north of England was prepared to talk to us anonymously. He had an intriguing story about how his team had come close to cracking this case.

He told us that a few years ago on the evening of December 24th local police officers contacted their CCTV command and control centre about potential disruption to traffic one of the main arterial routes into the city. Reports had been received that a large sledge along with what appeared to be reindeer had been abandoned by the side of the road. CCTV cameras failed to catch any images of the incident, and by the time a police patrol car arrived there was nothing to be seen.  Intriguingly there were tracks in the road that could have belonged to a large sleigh that glowed and seemed to vanish into thin air. Furthermore, the police officers who attended found that two chocolate selection boxes had been left behind with their names on.

Our source concluded his story by making an appeal. He asked us to pass on a request for people to be vigilant on December 24th and to report any sightings of the mysterious man responsible for leaving gifts behind. We are happy to share his request with our readers and ask you to ‘watch the skies