I have a friend, a devout Christian, who swears she has seen Bigfoot. I don’t know what to do with that info when she tells me. I can’t call her a liar, so I just usually respond with, “REALLY?. Oh, my!”.
Like you I would respectfully listen to her but what convinces her doesn't necessarily have to convince me. The type of observation that would convince me is from someone who has credibility in their statements (which your friend seems to have) and also the ability to accurately interpret what they observed. That's why the ones who would convince me needed both character and outdoors experience.