---
aliases:
- John L. Wilhelm
category: Skeptics & Critics
summary: Wilhelm's exposé centered on the U.S.
tags:
- Person
- Skeptic
---

John L. Wilhelm was a journalist and a skeptic of [ESP](/concepts/extrasensory-perception/) and other anomalous mental phenomena. He is known for his *Washington Post* article, "Psychic Spying? The [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), the [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) and the Russians Probe the Military Potential of [Parapsychology](/concepts/parapsychology/)," published on August 7, 1977[^1].

Wilhelm's exposé centered on the [U.S. Navy](/organizations/us-navy/)'s top scientist, [Samuel Koslov](/people/samuel-koslov/), who publicly expressed outrage about the [SRI](/organizations/stanford-research-institute/) project on ESP, claiming he had demanded its cessation. Koslov told Wilhelm, "If you ask me, ‘Do you think it’s a pile of crap?’ I do, and you can quote me." Wilhelm's article highlighted the public relations nightmare faced by Koslov, especially as the nefarious details surrounding the [Moscow Signal](/events/moscow-signal/) and [Project Pandora](/programs/project-pandora/) had only recently become public[^1].

[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.