"To a certain degree," he admits. He knows their presence isn't, of course, but 'mind flayers' don't appear to be unknown to this world. It's just that the crashing of one of their ships is, which- He has his theories on why that might be already and it does have to do with them being here when they're not supposed to be.

"The ship, you mean? It does look more organic, doesn't it? But I wonder if it's more an extension of the pilot, in that case, rather than alive in its own right." So, the pilot is probably dead if anyone.