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From Ed Pierson:

This F-106 was on display at Edwards AFB during the 50th anniversary celebration for the USAF.  It had the towhook assembly attached but had not yet been flown. The idea was to test the concept of towing a space plane aloft, thus saving a lot of weight and complexity by not installing air-breathing engines. The idea of towing was also intended to avoid having to design an additional aircraft for the purpose of actually carrying the space plane, as in the B-52/X-15 combination.

According to the display and talking to the gentleman who was with the aircraft, the company involved (I don't remember now who it was) had intended to fair over the inlets and install a rocket into the F-106. With the addition of some heat-ablation material the airframe was considered strong enough to send into space.

This was one of the very last flights of the F-106 in any capacity. Not well known, it was a very long-lived weapons system, having first flown in 1956 and retired from active service in 1986. Most of the ones left were converted to drones and shot down. In what seems like a previous life, I flew the airplane in the mid-70's.