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> velocity only applies to something in free fall, not to something with a high magnitude inertial vector relative to the Earth (like a meteorite)

It could be conceivably coming at a speed high enough to still be supersonic when it hit the ground. However, were that the case, I doubt there would be still much of a house remaining. Or maybe a block for that matter, depending on how fast it was going.

More likely, it just slowed down due to friction. This is even more likely for a small rock.

> anything with thrust (like a supersonic plane or a bullet).

Plane has thrust, but a bullet doesn't ;)



Initial velocity doesn't matter (outside of relativistic considerations) for whether an object makes it through the atmosphere. Density and size do.




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