Project Context & Credits

The American Periphenomenal Survey (APS) is an independent research initiative and citizen-science project focused on the folklore, mythology, and high-strangeness of the Pacific Northwest.

Mission Statement

At its heart, the APS is a storytelling project. Our primary purpose is to collect — and eventually to tell — the anomalous and high-strangeness stories of the people who live in this region. The archive exists so that these accounts can be preserved with integrity, compared across geography and time, and ultimately shared.

We aim to create a rigorous, non-judgmental record of the "unexplainable" human experience. We believe that stories of the paranormal, liminal, and weird are vital parts of our regional cultural history, and that taking them seriously — without endorsing or dismissing them — is the only way to do them justice.

We utilize the Experience-Centered Approach (David J. Hufford), which validates the reporter's experience without necessarily endorsing a supernatural cause. We listen, we log, and we map.

We operate under the Hybrid Ecology Hypothesis, viewing modern anomalies as friction points where ancient biological pattern-recognition systems collide with modern digital amplification.

We collect everything. The APS doesn't restrict what kinds of experiences a regional unit can receive — every category of anomalous experience is welcome from every region. A UAP report from the Pacific Northwest is as legitimate and archivally significant as a Sasquatch report; a poltergeist account from Cascadia matters as much as one from Appalachia. The geographic distribution of what people experience and report is itself one of the most valuable patterns the archive can surface, and that's only possible if we collect universally.

Research Ethics & Safety

• Voluntary Participation: All data is submitted voluntarily. We prioritize anonymity and data privacy above all else.
• Passive Observation: Field Researchers are instructed to observe public spaces only. APS does not condone trespassing, vandalism, or the defacement of public property.
• Methodological Agnosticism: We do not try to "debunk" or "prove" ghosts. We document the narrative as it was felt by the witness.

Credits

Director / Lead Archivist: AEW (APS Cascadia)
Typography: "National Park" (Design by the National Park Service / US Govt Public Domain)
Inspiration: The works of Jacques Vallée and Charles Fort, and the citizen-science model of iNaturalist.

© 2026 APS Research Collective. All narratives remain the intellectual property of their contributors.