“…A number of groups have studied the disruption and destruction of bolides striking deep atmospheres (e.g., Passey and Melosh 1980, Basilevsky et al 1987, Ivanov 1988, Ivanov et al 1992, Zahnle 1992, Chyba et al 1993, Chevalier and Sarazin 1994, Boslough et al 1994, Ahrens et al 1994, Takata et al 1994, Field and Ferrara 1995, Svetsov et al 1995, Svetsov 1996, Mac Low 1996, Zahnle 1996, Crawford 1996, 1997, Roulston and Ahrens 1997. The consensus seems to be that impacting bodies of a certain size are disrupted by aerodynamic forces and that mechanical ablation (as opposed to radiative ablation, which is the usual fate of small meteors) plays a major role in the deceleration of the object as a whole (Field and Ferrara 1995, Svetsov et al 1995, Mac Low 1996, Crawford 1996.…”