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Recently, mainstream sources have begun to legitimize the belief that we are being visited. I have seen two stories about this on CNN.com, one of which sources the New York Times, Senator Harry Reid, and a high-ranking military official.

We are not close to having a flying saucer land in Times Square. Even if we were to believe that some UFO's are extraterrestrial, and that they are studying us, no human is ready to have them over for coffee or tea.

The human nervous system is probably not equipped to deal with intelligences that are millions of years more advanced than we are. They would have to be ahead of us by that much, if they are able to travel from other star systems to Earth.

But, you might ask, what does this have to do with mental illness? A simple answer in three parts: much of the delusional content I've had relates to extraterrestrials. A second part of this; people who believe in ET's have been branded 'crazy' for decades. Thirdly, people other than me who've been psychotic could have also had delusions about ET's.  

Does the apparent normalization of ET's mean that I wasn't psychotic? No. It still holds true that the aliens with whom I was in contact were products of a malfunctioning brain.  

The lines between illusion and reality aren't always well-defined. Some people who have delusions don't necessarily believe in the impossible. However, many delusions are highly improbable. Some delusions are in the form of extreme exaggerations. 

More than likely, the actual extraterrestrials, if they are visiting Earth, do not have time or inclination to have dealings with a down and out, mentally ill man in his thirties, something I was in 1996 the most recent time I was fully psychotic. At times, I had a delusion that I was on Mars. 

The rule of thumb to discern delusions is not always that they are beliefs in impossibilities. It often has more to do with the manner in which a belief manifests in the mind. If the belief floods in and takes over, if it crowds out reason, and if you "need" to have the belief, these are indications of a thought generated by a psychotic malfunction. 

Will the extraterrestrials rescue the human species from our possible impending self-destruct? With current world leaders' attitudes, with the increasing threat of nuclear annihilation, with us ruining the atmosphere by excessive carbon emissions, there is some doubt that life on our planet will continue into the next century.  

However, will the aliens rescue us from our impending self-inflicted demise?  

This is my best guess, (from the perspective not of an expert, but that of a presently reasonable, well-informed person): If humans cannot learn to coexist, neighboring civilizations may see us as a possible threat to nearby star systems. 

Don't count on being rescued by extraterrestrials. If we are foolish enough to wipe ourselves out, I think extraterrestrials will let us do so. Concerning beliefs about contact with extraterrestrial aliens, you should consider them delusions.