I’d like something stronger than “Nicaraguan authorities” before accepting that any bit of a tracked 60 foot asteroid was 25000 miles of course. There are lots of other meteors up there. For that matter are we sure this wasn’t one of Obama’s friends herding new voters his way.
Gravitational forces could definitely pull an asteroid apart, especially if it is more of a clump of material(s) or “pieces” held together by it’s own / their own (very weak) gravity, as opposed to the solid chunk of rock most people think of. A small asteroid can even have it’s own smaller “moons”. Of course, that brings up an interesting question: When are separate pieces considered individual bodies?
This is also interesting, because it shows that smaller bodies can get through and cause deadly local destruction. If that thing had thumped a building full of people... :-(
On the other hand, if it was one of Obama’s friends, he sure landed hard!