An interesting letter to the editor published in the May 6, 1909 NYT:

Did it ever occur to our astronomers that possibly the mysterious "canals" on Mars might be signals intended for us to answer? I believe I have heard that these "canals" do not always appear the same. It is barely possible that the Martians are scientists of much greater ability than we can conceive of, and that through some remarkable means they are able to mark the surface of their planet with symbols which they expect us to decipher.

Such "out of the box" thinking is exactly what seems to have been needed concerning the ongoing buzz about trying to "signal" to the yet-to-be-discovered Martians.