High-energy local multiplet excitations of the electrons are revealed in our inelastic neutron scattering measurements on the prototype magnetic insulator NiO. These become allowed by the presence of both nonzero crystal field and spin-orbit coupling. The observed excitations are consistent with optical, x-ray, and EELS measurements of - excitations. This experiment serves as a proof of principle that high-energy neutron spectroscopy is a reliable and useful technique for probing electronic excitations in systems with significant crystal-field and spin-orbit interactions.