Were the women—with Mary Magdalene—saying “Jesus appeared to us”?

Our question

The gospels report that Jesus foretold his death and resurrection. Days after dying on the cross, the gospels of Matthew and Luke report that Jesus appeared some female disciples, including Mary Magdalene, as if he had come back to life. Were the women and/or Mary ultimately the source of this report? Were these names women, and especially Mary Magdalene, confidently maintaining that Jesus appeared to them near his tomb when they visited it? Did they publicly maintain that this was their experience at the tomb on the alleged day of the resurrection (Easter, around AD 30)?

Most historians say Mary had this experience

Craig Keener: “Most thus judge the report that the women were the first witnesses of the resurrection message to be historically accurate.” [The Historical Jesus of the Gospels (Eerdmans, 2009), 331.]
Gerald O'Collins & Daniel Kendall: “One who accepts this tradition [that Jesus appeared alive after death] should agree that women were the first or among the first witnesses. In the tradition women, especially Mary Magdalene, have a lead role. Above all, in John 20 Mary Magdalene is the human figure who holds the events together. [“Mary Magdalene as Major Witness to Jesus’ Resurrection” Theological Studies 48 (1987), 645.]

Though some are skeptical of the actual narration. Here is one example:

Gerd Lüdemann: “It seems to be historically certain that Mary Magdalene experienced an appearance of the risen Jesus. … But the tradition [i.e. the pop-story itself which circulated among communities of Christians] of a first appearance to Mary arose relatively late (see above, 64ff.), whereas that to Peter is among the earliest pieces of tradition. This is a good reason for regarding the first appearance [i.e. the full-blown tradition story] to Mary as unhistorical.” [_What really happened to Jesus_, Trans. by Bowden (Westminster, 1995), 80-81.]

See the related section on whether the women witnessed Jesus's tomb empty.

Yes Reasons affirming the proposition Were the women—with Mary Magdalene—saying “Jesus appeared to us”?

1st church: “Jesus visited Mary!”
Since the year AD 30, the Christian community in Jerusalem had been recounting that the risen Jesus appeared to the women who visited his tomb on Easter, including Mary Magdalene
On this page we can debate these 4 arguments:

All reports on Mary seeing Jesus say she's the 1st witness.

Mt 28 and Jn 20 independent attest to it.

Mary herself was saying “Jesus visited me.

In general, the 1st church was saying Jesus visited the witnesses.
This is reason to believe the women were truly testifying to Jesus appearing to them because of the additional evidences that this Jerusalem community was and would not have been misrepresenting its statements about Mary (who, for example, was a member there).
But no, Plausibly…
- It is an evolved angelophany.
- Mary is absent in sources that would’ve mention her.
But so what?
- They misrepresented the Mary and/or the women, claiming that Jesus appeared to them when in fact the the Jerusalem community was inventing the account or falsely assuming it.

AD 30-35 Christians: “Jesus visited Mary & the women’!
The earliest Christians (i.e. those in c AD 30-35) were testifying that the traditional Easter women—including Mary Magdalene—were saying Jesus had appeared to them alive from the dead.
Mary was very prominent from the start.

Mt’s content on Mary & co dates back to AD 30.

In general, only witness-based Jesus-bio pervaded (in AD 30-80).