Seemed appropriate with Black Lives Matter and today 'UFOS' trending.

There was no longer any debate about "IF Martians are real" because the science was settled - the ONLY debate was what to do about them and the potential doom of the human species.

Maybe Mandatory Tinfoil Hats (Let Astronauts have the real silver helmets) and seriously, there was legit public hysteria around this and yes, very serious scientists were all about 'The Martians' as a very real thing.