Meteorites leave strewn-fields before impacting, SpaceX rockets come in at an angle and stand up straight at the last second, the Soyuz capsule doesn't fall straight. I assume this has to do with the angle needed to penetrate the earth's atmosphere.

But then I was thinking about how SpaceX lands it's rockets and how movie aliens/spacecraft tend to fall straight down from the sky. And they fall down straight from the sky because there wasn't the example of SpaceX landing spacecraft before.

I also assume that SpaceX could do a more vertical landing but that would require more fuel after reentry.

I always see the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs depicted this way - falling straight down - but is that an artistic choice/void of information or scientifically accurate?

So what are the requirements for something to fall straight down to earth?