This is a symbolic/metaphorical depiction of an Ascension (miraj) as experienced by the person who undergoes it.
(from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey")
(Copyright Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1968.)
As a footnote: For comparison, watch the following as well. (This, too, is to be regarded simply as symbolic.)
(from Robert Zemeckis's "Contact")
(Copyright Warner Bros. Pictures, 1997.)