Positive she saw Bigfoot, she's suing California

This photo provided by the Kennebunk Police Department shows graffiti on a sign in Kennebunk, Maine. A prankster spray-painted Bigfoot on town signs. (Det. Stephen M. Borst, Kennebunk Police Department via AP)

Claudia Ackley is positive that she and her two daughters came across Bigfoot in a tree in southern California last year, but when she called different state authorities to report the sighting, she got the same response.

Nope, they told her, you saw a bear. As a result, the 46-year-old has filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to recognize Sasquatch as a distinct species, reports the Press-Enterprise.

In this case, you can judge for yourself: An ABC 30 report on Ackley's sighting includes phone video shot by her daughter near Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino mountains.

(It was shot around dusk and is pretty dark.) Ackley filed her suit with documentary filmmaker Todd Standing, who made the Netflix film "Discovering Bigfoot" and who believes the sighting is legit.

State officials won't comment on pending litigation. "He looked like a Neanderthal man with hair all over him," said Ackley, who says this is the second sure sighting of Bigfoot she has made.

"He had solid black eyes. He had no expression on his face at all. He did not show his teeth. He just stared at the three of us." The three then safely walked away, she says.

Among other things, the lawsuit says the state is endangering the public by not recognizing Bigfoot and calls on it to "'manage this wildlife species" and protect its habitat.

You can read the lawsuit in full at Gizmodo, which says it makes "some valid and interesting points." In the meantime, Ackley is leaving fruit and snacks out, along with a voice-activated book that includes recordings of words like "fur" and "candy," and samples of each, in an attempt to communicate.

This article originally appeared on Newser: Positive She Saw Bigfoot, She's Suing California