That's exactly what I thought when I saw one headed right for Salt Lake City one evening back in the Cold War days of the early 1960s. It was twilight and the street lights had just come on. The thing grew brighter and brighter until the lights turned off again. I was waiting for the Soviet nuclear blast but instead the thing exploded silently in a huge fireball then disappeared.
We learned the next day a large meteorite had exploded over central Utah. I know teams were sent to search for remnants and can't recall if any were found. But for a few moments I thought WWW3 had started.
I was just a kid in NYC in the late 40s or early 50s when I heard a low rumble, looked over towards New Jersey and saw a large mushroom cloud. I thought that Joe Stalin had started the Big One. Scared the yell out of me. It was "just" a ship that was loaded with ammunition - and I guess someone was clumsy. Nobody who knew for sure was left.