Alan Abel

Alan Irwin Abel (August 2, 1924 – September 14, 2018) was an American prankster, hoaxer, writer, and mockumentary filmmaker. He was born in Zanesville, Ohio.

From 1966 to 1967 Abel wrote a weekly syndicated humor column "The Private World of Prof. Bunker C. Hill" that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and several other newspapers. Following the Watergate scandal, Abel hired an actor to pose as Deep Throat for a press conference in New York City before 150 reporters.

In 1959, Abel started his most elaborate hoax. He appeared on a national TV show as a representative of the "Society for Indecency to Naked Animals" (SINA). SINA's mission was to put clothes on naked animals. Their slogan was: "A nude horse is a rude horse". An actor appeared on television and radio several times, including the CBS Evening News on August 21, 1962. The hoax began as a satire of media censorship, but soon people started sending financial contributions to the organization. (The organization returned the money.) Other people started making official citizen complaints against people for walking naked dogs. Some people started selling clothes for the naked animals.