Selmer Nilsen

Sverre Ingebregt Selmer Nilsen (25 May 1931 – 18 June 1991) was a Norwegian fisherman spying for the GRU during the Cold War.

Biography He was active in Bodø from 1956 to 1963, and reported Bodø landings and take-offs of the American espionage plane Lockheed U-2 to the Soviet Union. These operations culminated with the U-2 Crisis of 1960, when one of the U-2 planes was forced down over Soviet Union on 1 May 1960. after threats from Soviet agents towards his family. The 17-year-old boy was sent for training in the Soviet Union. He returned seven months later, with a radio transmitter and knowledge of telegraphy. He was however pardoned from further imprisonment after 3 years. The disclosure shocked Norway, as well as its NATO allies, as the espionage had been carried out through the peak of the Cold War.