[Hot Tabasco]

I call this story BS! There's no way a CF-18 can even come close to flying at starlight speed.........

But on the other hand, maybe Santa knows this and slows down so they can keep up, you know, kinda like letting them think they're really in the game.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Pilots who have flown the escort missions in previous years report Santa does slow down and wave for the initial interception and identification by the CF-18s. He’s hoping to get a good shot of the otherwise-elusive elf, who has appeared to enjoy posing for the camera during previous missions in previous years.