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Probably depends on the angle of entry. Consider its velocity though, and the time it’d take to descend through just a couple miles of atmosphere once it becomes brightly visible.
Movie meteors are very, very slowed down. Cinematic effect and all.
The Chicxulub impactor struck at about a 60° angle. As fast as it was moving (20km per second) they probably wouldn’t have seen anything prior to the actual impact. They would however see the giant ash and dust plume since Chicxulub made a crater 100km wide and 30km deep.
*200 km wide and 20 km deep according to wikipedia
Also I’ve just discovered what happens when you google chicxulub
“Oh shit, the economy!”