They are not reality based in their thinking. Their grandiosity takes them above and beyond as they decide how to present themselves in costume. They are not in uniform, and they know it. No matter what you say about how unreal they appear, the mystical "above and beyond" becomes their defense. "Of course you don't know about it, how could you?" This guy was pressured on many levels, and there was no amount of reason that was going to stick. He was miles ahead in his pitch. You would be trying to reason out his badges, and he was already off into CIA land. They hate who they are, and look to square that with costume and selling a false front. It pumps them up, but the reality of self dislike always comes back. Some get pretty good at it, and can get support in their "story" as long as they don't go too crazy. Still, at the end of the day, they are who they are, and they are not happy people. This guy is pretty unstable, with so much visual overload; even his watch was grandiose. He will likely be taken to task by those who do that. For some, when you fracture the false reality they have created, anger and depression come to the surface, with one suicide that I know of.