Maybe it’s one of those “rail gun” human cannonball things.
“rail gun human cannonball things”
The Germans had a cannon like that in France that was designed to shoot artillery shells as big around as a New Jersey governor across the channel into England.
It was mostly underground and was a couple miles long. The payload’s propulsion was assisted by charges all along its trip through the ‘tube’.
Maybe the Indians had something similar for use against Pakistan or China and Mr. Patel Sr., being of suitable caliber for the job, achieved stratospheric trajectory landing in Madison?