Is Mars really a red planet?

My kids were watching quite a bit of YouTube with great enthusiasm, so I decided to take the hint and see what the fun was all about. It didn't take long before I had watched a lot of alien videos. I found it more entertaining than TV! TV is so tired, even the new ideas end up just running along the same tracks. This, this was entirely different.

Part of the fun is determining what is complete bullshyte and what may have merit. Often, friends tell me that there couldn't be such a wide ranging conspiracy, because someone would talk. Well, people have been talking about the cover up for quite some time. An interesting connection to which was recently posited:
Could the 1938 broadcast of "War of the Worlds," have been both motivation and justification for the secrecy regarding extraterrestrials?

"... a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds ... reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring."

"So what about Mars, dude"

There exists a great deal of photographic material collected from Mars and from time to time, someone locates interesting rock formations, or what appears to be structures in craters. It's very fascinating regardless of one's overall take on the issue of aliens. A VERY interesting suggestion posted on Sept. 26, 2016, is that Mars has been developing an atmosphere that is making it less red in color. Have a look, the Mars portion begins at 19:30

What do you think?

I'd love to hear your take, even if it is only a brief snippet.

Myself, I don't necessarily believe it, however, I enjoy keeping an open mind in regards to possibilities. Wouldn't it be amazing if the universe was teeming with life?