Pope County, Illinois
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Pope County is the southeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,763, making it the second-least populous county in Illinois. Its county
Pope County Courthouse in Golconda
Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois was the Pope County namesake.
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Viktor Belenko
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Viktor Ivanovich Belenko was a Soviet-born American aerospace engineer and pilot who defected in 1976 to the West while flying his MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet interceptor and landed in Hakodate, Japan. George
Pope County, Illinois
…Mason Ramsey (born 2006), raised in Golconda, country singer Victor Belenko (1947-2023) born in the USSR, served in the Soviet Air Force until he stole a MiG-25 and flew to Japan providing the West with invaluable intelligence…
Belenko's Soviet military identification photo; stored at the CIA Museum
Viktor Belenko's military ID
Belenko's knee pad notebook with flight data