Aster
she/her
Aster is the tech-savvy, skeptically-minded co-host of AlterNormal. She grew up in Utah (raised Mormon), lived in San Francisco, and eventually landed on a 10-acre property in the Maine woods — because her end game is "to be a lesbian cryptid in the middle of the woods, wearing flannel." A software engineer by trade who also works in trans healthcare, she handles all the technical side of the podcast — editing, website, and building open-source paranormal investigation tools like spirit box hardware and an encounter tracker. She approaches every story with a scientific lens ("extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence") but genuinely keeps an open mind. When she's not chasing UFO sightings or arguing about orbs, she's keeping reptiles and watching sci-fi.
Aster brings a grounded, analytical perspective to every episode of AlterNormal. Originally from Utah and now settled deep in the Maine woods, she’s the one behind the mic making sure the audio sounds good, the website works, and the claims hold up to scrutiny. She builds open-source paranormal investigation tools — spirit boxes, encounter trackers — because if you’re going to look for the unexplained, you might as well bring good equipment. A software engineer and trans healthcare worker by day, she balances Kel’s enthusiasm with a skeptic’s rigor and a genuine curiosity that keeps her coming back to the weird stuff.