The FAA files published by The Black Vault on November 3 add a specific military-response detail to the September 4, 2026 disruption at San Diego International Airport. A controller's summary records a call from Naval Air Station North Island saying personnel were preparing to engage an unauthorized drone. The released written record supplies no confirmed outcome for that plan.
What the released records establish
The FAA response dated October 22 identifies two tower audio re-recordings and two Mandatory Occurrence Reports. It says no responsive transcripts, facility logs, decisional documents or specified coordination records were found because FAA did not create, maintain or control them. These are official records hosted by their FOIA requester, not a newly issued agency explanation of the objects.
The larger report, SAN-M-2026/09/04-0004, page 4, records repeated pilot sightings, stopped departures, a later tower observation of a silver object and a police helicopter's unsuccessful attempt to obtain video. Its quality-assurance review gives reported altitudes of roughly 300–1,500 feet. Those figures remain reports; the file does not provide a calibrated reconstruction.
The same summary warns that its second reported object might have been the first one after the tower lost sight of it. The North Island call appears as another entry. Counting the headings as three independently verified aircraft would discard the report's own uncertainty.
A shootdown claim needs a different record
The Black Vault reports that a software-generated working transcript of Ground Control audio includes a statement suggesting a drone had been shot down near North Island. The publisher explicitly distinguishes that assertion from confirmation. UFOsoldier has checked the written PDFs for this article, but has not independently audited the full audio; the reported exchange remains attributed to The Black Vault. The FAA cover letter confirms that the agency supplied no transcript.
The smaller SWA1562 occurrence report preserves a pilot's nearby-UAS report and a roughly 1,000-foot altitude estimate, while leaving closest proximity unspecified. It offers no recovery evidence or military engagement result.
Independent context and the remaining questions
NBC 7 San Diego reported on September 4 that airport spokesperson Nicole Hall described a drone and weather balloon near the airport, with operations resuming after an approximately 4:30 p.m. all-clear. That contemporary account corroborates the disruption and the airport's public explanation. It does not identify every object in the later FAA paperwork or verify the reported military action.
For UAP research, this is a useful documented identification problem. A military incident report, recovery record or original tracking data could clarify what North Island detected and what happened next. The available material supports serious aviation-safety questions without establishing extraordinary technology or connecting every sighting to one object.
Hero image: AI-generated conceptual illustration of an air-traffic desk and coastal runway; all details are fictional. This is illustrative artwork, not documentary evidence or a reconstruction.