Intermittent YouTube API issue: playlistItems pagination sometimes returns empty results with the exact same query

I'm posting here for support from Google in accordance with this page: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/support

I'm intermittently getting a playlistItemListResponse with empty items.

An example query I'm using is as follows:

https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/playlistItems?part=snippet,status&playlistId=UUnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ&maxResults=15&key=*******&pageToken=EAEaBlBUOkNBOA

Sometimes I get the correct response, that looks like this:

{"kind": "youtube#playlistItemListResponse","etag": "DBFz9o8yqAucF30jWRsSEwikRUA","nextPageToken": "EAAaBlBUOkNBOA","items": [    {"kind": "youtube#playlistItem","etag": "nVoJXNCYEOxBu_KyMJ3EjlTXdYs","id": "VVVuTTVpTUdpS3NaZy1pT2xJTzJaa2RRLlI5WkVFQXVDNkk4","snippet": {"publishedAt": "2023-05-03T17:50:53Z","channelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","title": "Meet the hagfish–scavengers of the deep sea | #shorts","description": "It’s time to feast—but do you twist yourself in a knot like a hagfish when it’s time for dindin? As one of just two living species of jawless fish, hagfish are a sight to behold when they scavenge food on the deep seafloor. Share some love for these wriggly friends as they tear off tasty morsels. Bon Appetit!😋\n____\n\nWhale hello there! We hope you liked this video. Subscribe to our channel for more from the Monterey Bay and our mission to inspire conservation of the ocean: \nhttps://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=montereybayaquarium\n\nWe're on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MontereyAq  \nAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montereybayaquarium  \nAnd Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/montereybayaquarium \nAnd Tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/montereybayaquarium   \nAnd Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/montereyaq \nAnd TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@montereyaq\nAnd Discord! https://discord.gg/montereybayaquarium\nAnd subscribe to our emails here: https://montereybayaquarium.org/subscribe","thumbnails": {"default": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9ZEEAuC6I8/default.jpg","width": 120,"height": 90          },"medium": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9ZEEAuC6I8/mqdefault.jpg","width": 320,"height": 180          },"high": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9ZEEAuC6I8/hqdefault.jpg","width": 480,"height": 360          },"standard": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9ZEEAuC6I8/sddefault.jpg","width": 640,"height": 480          },"maxres": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9ZEEAuC6I8/maxresdefault.jpg","width": 1280,"height": 720          }        },"channelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","playlistId": "UUnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","position": 0,"resourceId": {"kind": "youtube#video","videoId": "R9ZEEAuC6I8"        },"videoOwnerChannelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","videoOwnerChannelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ"      },"status": {"privacyStatus": "public"      }    },    {"kind": "youtube#playlistItem","etag": "j8zL4EEEsqOlXWcyTksJ6B4iK_E","id": "VVVuTTVpTUdpS3NaZy1pT2xJTzJaa2RRLlA4Vzc4aVF5RXVR","snippet": {"publishedAt": "2023-04-28T19:02:12Z","channelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","title": "Swimming with a sea angel | The Critter Corner","description": "Pause and ponder the periodic parapodia paddling from this pterrifically ptiny pteropod!\n\nSea angels (Clione sp.)recently returned to Into the Deep/En lo Profundo. Be shore to stay tuned to our socials for animal updates as you never know who you'll meet in this ever-evolving exhibit!\n\nWant to learn more about sea angels? Watch our video collab with SciShow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EGOQHrZ6Kw\n____\n\nWhale hello there! We hope you liked this video. Subscribe to our channel for more from the Monterey Bay and our mission to inspire conservation of the ocean: \nhttps://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=montereybayaquarium\n\nWe're on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MontereyAq  \nAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montereybayaquarium  \nAnd Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/montereybayaquarium \nAnd Tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/montereybayaquarium   \nAnd Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/montereyaq \nAnd TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@montereyaq\nAnd Discord! https://discord.gg/montereybayaquarium\nAnd subscribe to our emails here: https://montereybayaquarium.org/subscribe","thumbnails": {"default": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8W78iQyEuQ/default.jpg","width": 120,"height": 90          },"medium": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8W78iQyEuQ/mqdefault.jpg","width": 320,"height": 180          },"high": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8W78iQyEuQ/hqdefault.jpg","width": 480,"height": 360          },"standard": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8W78iQyEuQ/sddefault.jpg","width": 640,"height": 480          },"maxres": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8W78iQyEuQ/maxresdefault.jpg","width": 1280,"height": 720          }        },"channelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","playlistId": "UUnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","position": 1,"resourceId": {"kind": "youtube#video","videoId": "P8W78iQyEuQ"        },"videoOwnerChannelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","videoOwnerChannelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ"      },"status": {"privacyStatus": "public"      }    },    {"kind": "youtube#playlistItem","etag": "tkHjABbpIXEmH8gd0oZXst5a1q0","id": "VVVuTTVpTUdpS3NaZy1pT2xJTzJaa2RRLmxpak1JNWN5aVZZ","snippet": {"publishedAt": "2023-04-25T20:54:27Z","channelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","title": "Penguin Chick Update | Monterey Bay Aquarium Announ-sea-ments","description": "🐧Feathered news bulletin: Penguin chick update🐧 \n\nWe have some exciting updates to share about our juvenile African penguin that hatched late last November. We recently found out the sex of Gerry the chick. Results are back — she’s female! \n\nShe was named after Gerry Low-Sabado, an educator, community preservationist, and friend of the Aquarium. \n\nWe were honored to host Gerry Low-Sabado’s family for their visit with our penguin chick. We’re so excited to watch Gerry the penguin grow up, and we bray hooray on this World Penguin Day!\n\nWant to learn more about Gerry Low-Sabado? Check out https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/Gerry-Low-Sabado\n\nCurious what it takes to raise African penguins at the Aquarium? Waddle on over to https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/raising-penguin-chicks \n____\n\nWhale hello there! We hope you liked this video. Subscribe to our channel for more from the Monterey Bay and our mission to inspire conservation of the ocean: \nhttps://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=montereybayaquarium\n\nWe're on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MontereyAq  \nAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montereybayaquarium  \nAnd Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/montereybayaquarium \nAnd Tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/montereybayaquarium   \nAnd Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/montereyaq \nAnd TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@montereyaq\nAnd Discord! https://discord.gg/montereybayaquarium\nAnd subscribe to our emails here: https://montereybayaquarium.org/subscribe","thumbnails": {"default": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lijMI5cyiVY/default.jpg","width": 120,"height": 90          },"medium": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lijMI5cyiVY/mqdefault.jpg","width": 320,"height": 180          },"high": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lijMI5cyiVY/hqdefault.jpg","width": 480,"height": 360          },"standard": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lijMI5cyiVY/sddefault.jpg","width": 640,"height": 480          },"maxres": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lijMI5cyiVY/maxresdefault.jpg","width": 1280,"height": 720          }        },"channelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","playlistId": "UUnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","position": 2,"resourceId": {"kind": "youtube#video","videoId": "lijMI5cyiVY"        },"videoOwnerChannelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","videoOwnerChannelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ"      },"status": {"privacyStatus": "public"      }    },      {"kind": "youtube#playlistItem","etag": "_BIXA8OmWrcDY8Xokm5RRa0h7tE","id": "VVVuTTVpTUdpS3NaZy1pT2xJTzJaa2RRLmc0NlpqeTE4czAw","snippet": {"publishedAt": "2023-03-21T17:49:39Z","channelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","title": "You're a Small One, Little Shrimp | A #ShrimpWeek \"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch\" parody","description": "Shellebrate the wonderful world of shrimp (and their shrimp-like friends) with this playful parody of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”. We promise by the end, you’ll want to hug a deep-sea shrimp, squeal about cleaner shrimp, and be fascinated by mysid shrimp!\n\nIf you weren’t shrimpressed before, we’re sea-rtain this song will shrimply change your tune!\n\nCheck out even more shrimp-tastic Shrimp Week content here!: https://mbayaq.co/42mRjV3\n\n____\n\nWhale hello there! We hope you liked this video. Subscribe to our channel for more from the Monterey Bay and our mission to inspire conservation of the ocean: \nhttps://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=montereybayaquarium\n\nWe're on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MontereyAq  \nAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montereybayaquarium  \nAnd Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/montereybayaquarium \nAnd Tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/montereybayaquarium   \nAnd Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/montereyaq \nAnd TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@montereyaq\nAnd Discord! https://discord.gg/montereybayaquarium\nAnd subscribe to our emails here: https://montereybayaquarium.org/subscribe","thumbnails": {"default": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g46Zjy18s00/default.jpg","width": 120,"height": 90          },"medium": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g46Zjy18s00/mqdefault.jpg","width": 320,"height": 180          },"high": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g46Zjy18s00/hqdefault.jpg","width": 480,"height": 360          },"standard": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g46Zjy18s00/sddefault.jpg","width": 640,"height": 480          },"maxres": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g46Zjy18s00/maxresdefault.jpg","width": 1280,"height": 720          }        },"channelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","playlistId": "UUnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ","position": 14,"resourceId": {"kind": "youtube#video","videoId": "g46Zjy18s00"        },"videoOwnerChannelTitle": "Monterey Bay Aquarium","videoOwnerChannelId": "UCnM5iMGiKsZg-iOlIO2ZkdQ"      },"status": {"privacyStatus": "public"      }    }... more here ...  ],"pageInfo": {"totalResults": 801,"resultsPerPage": 15  }}

However, sometimes this is the response I get (note the empty items array):

{"kind": "youtube#playlistItemListResponse","etag": "qbBXLrM0TLVDtkOOIDEwBv3I6FA","nextPageToken": "EAAaATA","items": [],"pageInfo": {"totalResults": 801,"resultsPerPage": 15  }}

The strange part about this is that I'm specifically getting an empty array of results intermittently, not an error response intermittently. An error response's format is actually quite different; I'm simply getting an inaccurate response: empty items in the items array even though the totalResults value is in the hundreds (see above).

Due diligence: The API key I'm using is new (no quota issues), and it has no restrictions. Plus, if there were issues with the key, I don't think I'd get valid results at all, but I am sometimes.

Is there something I'm missing, or is this an issue on YouTube / Google's side?

I've searched for other similar issues; this is the closest one, but it's not quite the same, because this link describes totalResults having a value of zero: YouTube v3 API - Sometimes returns ok, sometimes empty

Thanks!