> Sure, but the energy of a bomb explodes outwards in all directions. while this projectile's energy is concentrated in a tiny area and all in the same directio

> Sure, but the energy of a bomb explodes outwards in all directions. while this projectile's energy is concentrated in a tiny area and all in the same direction ... That's not a meteor. With respect, I think that _is exactly_ how a meteor works. So the extreme velocity times smaller mass gives us a middling kinetic energy. The difference, the extreme velocity, means that the energy is burned up as the object disintegrates into atoms over milliseconds not seconds as a regular meteor with the same energy would. Atoms and small fragments won't sustain their velocity. There's a fast bright flash of superheated air, a clap of thunder as the trail collapses, done.