Back when “snail mail” was the main way people used the written word to communicate with each other, one of the staples in the newspaper industry were the letters we received purported to be from, well, god.

These were not letters from a single individual — there were a whole slew of people (some living abroad) who felt the need to send lengthy letters to newspapers across the country.

The messages (when they could be discerned) varied widely. Sometimes, there was a prediction that the end of the world was imminent; other messages were a seemingly random collection of words that sort of made sense when read quickly: “The ordination of the monkey queen is at hand for those at the mountain top bearing false witness against the word, according to he who won’t be named.”

The letters were often in all-caps, sometimes typed but usually, for some reason, written by hand in tiny, neat script — often going on for dozens of pages in an effort that must have taken the better part of a day.

Some letters were signed by “God;” others had the name of a person who was claiming to speak on god’s behalf.

As quirky as these letters were, they bring up the serious issue of mental illness. While the letters were often good for a laugh, it was hard not to also feel some empathy for the letter writer.

There usually are no such feelings for the letters we get from the other end of the spectrum: those marked with the telltale stamp of a penal institution (i.e., a jail or a prison).

Those letters usually contain complaints about jail conditions, a “bad” lawyer, or the vast conspiracy used to frame the writer.

While these unusual letters are less frequent (thanks no doubt to email, social media, etc.), they still do come across our desk from time to time.

Just this week, a book was delivered to the Daily News from Spain titled “Hercolubus or Red Planet” that, according to the accompanying letter, “briefly describes some of the events that will put an end to our civilization.”

Spoiler alert: Don’t trust the blonde-haired, psychic people who live on Venus.

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I have received a lot of feedback on the columns regarding the parking situation downtown, as well as the Bowling Green peacocks. Stay tuned for updates and, as always, thank you for reading.

– Wes Swietek is the Managing Editor of the Daily News. He can be reached at wes.swietek@bgdailynews.com