A painting of the Tunguska event a few minutes after it exploded...from eyewitness accounts TUNGUSKA
A couple of years ago, I was backpacking in southern New Mexico
It was dark and I was sitting in front of my tent when I saw a large flaming object come overhead at a speed that appeared to be comparable to that of an aircraft at a few thousand feet.
Very large multi-colored flames were tailing behind it; I immediately thought it was an airliner on fire and about to go down
Only after it disappeared over the horizon did I realize that is was a meteor.
On another occasion, I was lying in a field in Germany during the Perseid shower and saw a meteor appear to come directly at me, get very bright, and explode with a very loud report.
You may be correct that bolides are cool when they hit the ground, but they certainly are not in the air