Nikolai Khokhlov

Nikolai Khokhlov (1922-2007) was a Soviet KGB assassin who defected to the United States in 1954 after refusing to kill a fellow anti-communist. A Russian national who became a U.S. citizen in 1970, he gained prominence in parapsychology through his association with J.B. Rhine at Duke University, where his interest in the paranormal developed. In 1966, he presented a paper on 'The Relationship of Parapsychology to Communism' at the Institute for Parapsychology, detailing Soviet government encouragement of ESP research since the late 1800s, including long-distance perception experiments over 2,000 miles. The U.S. government commissioned him to study Soviet parapsychology efforts amid Cold War concerns. He testified before U.S. Congress on Soviet intelligence and survived a 1957 thallium poisoning attempt. Pardoned by Boris Yeltsin in 1992, Khokhlov died of a heart attack at age 84. His papers, including parapsychology work, are at Stanford's Hoover Institution. No direct UAP/UFO involvement is documented, though his Soviet paranormal insights relate peripherally.