Years later, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) again knows the sentinel's loneliness, his repeated calls to restore the Air Force's Cold War Era "Looking Glass" program unheeded.

But that may be changing.

During a Nov. 15 House Armed Services Committee review of a congressional commission's report assessing the nation's nuclear forces, fears surfaced that potential adversaries—namely Russia and China—are developing capacities from space, from cyber, from under the sea, from everywhere all at once, to elude U.S. early warning systems and launch a surprise strike.

Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) both cited such a scenario as not merely speculative, but as an urgent threat that must be addressed.