The Air Force has jokingly retracted a pair of tweets declaring Santa Claus to be imaginary after a viral response to the tweets.
The tweets were originally posted to quell a Twitter feud between two rival Air Force bases in North Dakota and Missouri.
“We didn’t want to have to do this, but if you 2 can’t get along we must…Santa will bring you nothing this year…[because] he isn’t real!” the Air Force tweeted early Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, the Air Force responded to a compilation of the tweets created by the Washington Examiner by retracting the messages and claiming it was merely “bluffing” to keep the two bases in line.
The Air Force traditionally operates a “Santa tracker” that tracks the imaginary father of Christmas’ movements as he delivers presents around the globe on Christmas Eve.
