[KarlInOhio]

would have been travelling with the force of a small nuclear weapon.

...

The fireball could have been as large as a desk.

Hyperbole much? Let's say a desk is 1 meter x 1 meter x 2 meters = 2 cubic meters. If the meteor has the same density as granite it will be 5500 kilograms. An item that mass traveling at 25,000 miles per hour (yes, I know, don't mix units) would have the kinetic energy of 343 gigajoules, or about the energy of 80 tons of TNT.

Not even in the "small" nuclear weapon energy.

[whatexit]

Maybe it was the size of a desk that had a nuke in the drawer, ya ever think of that? /s

[njslim]

The “DAVY CROCKETT” recoiless nuclear launcher has warhead
yields of either 10 or 20 tons (nominal)

[Procyon]

But by the time it it the ground it would have slowed to less than 500 miles per hour (1/50 of 80 tonnes of TNT = 1.6 tonnes of TNT. Historically, the smallest yield from a nuclear explosion (a tactical nuclear artillery shell) was 55 tonnes TNT equivalent. So this hyperbole is 50 times exaggerated.

[GonzoGOP]

Not even in the "small" nuclear weapon energy.

There is some additional energy released. As the rock vaporizes the rock vapor (yes it is that hot) will flash combust like a fuel air explosive. Very cool, but something as small as a desk still wouldn't have done a nuke sized blast. Get one the size of a minivan and you can have some serious fun.

Now the big nickel iron jobs don't always break up and vaporize. They can get a shock wave of plasma around them and punch right through the atmosphere. Less blast effect but you end up with a cool crater.

On the up side the debris is worth more pound for pound than gold so I hope the locals have their metal detectors out.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Plus, all that energy is disapated in the “stream” of heat and hot gasses (and discarded molten rock) around the fireball: Figure 85,000 feet drop through atmosphere, cross-wise travel of 500 some-odd miles ....

Spreads that energy out a bit.

[Brett66]

No No, you’ve got it all wrong, say that a Texas-sized asteroid merits Bruce Willis; along with a team of oil rig workers, going there to blow it up.

This wouldn’t even merit Bruces’s fingernail clippings going there.