That's what a bolide does: it implodes from the shock pressure and converts all its kinetic energy to heat energy, vaporizing the meteor. It is a mid-air explosion, and it would only leave what was found: heat and blast effects. There was heat damage (scorched trees) over a wide area, and mineral samples found consistent with the composition of meteorites. The Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona has profuse signs of being what it is, but no pieces of the source meteor have been found, either, because it was all vaporized.
That's what a bolide does: it implodes from the shock pressure and converts all its kinetic energy to heat energy, vaporizing the meteor. It is a mid-air explosion, and it would only leave what was found: heat and blast effects. There was heat damage (scorched trees) over a wide area, and mineral samples found consistent with the composition of meteorites. The Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona has profuse signs of being what it is, but no pieces of the source meteor have been found, either, because it was all vaporized.