  There is an unceasing incoming flux of extraterrestrial materials reaching
the Earth's atmosphere. Some of these objects produce luminous columns when
they ablate during the hypersonic encounter with air molecules. A few fireballs
occur each year bright enough to be detected from space. The source of these
events is still a matter of debate, but it is generally accepted that they are
of sporadic origin. We studied the NASA-JPL Center for NEOs Studies (CNEOS)
fireball database to infer the dynamic origin of large bolides produced by
meter-sized projectiles that impacted our planet. These likely
meteorite-dropping events were recorded by the US Government satellite sensors.
We estimated the false-positive rate and analyzed the time evolution of
multiple orbit dissimilarity criteria concerning potential associations with
near-Earth objects and meteoroid streams. We found that at least 16% of the
large bolides could be associated with meteoroid streams, about 4% are likely
associated with near-Earth asteroids, and 4% may be linked to near-Earth
comets. This implies that a significant fraction of meter-sized impactors
producing large bolides may have an asteroidal or cometary origin. In addition,
we found at least three bolides having hyperbolic orbits with high tensile
strength values. Meter-sized meteoroids of interstellar origin could be more
common than previously thought, representing about 1% of the flux of large
bolides. The inferred bulk physical properties suggest that the interstellar
medium could bias these projectiles towards high strength rocks with the
ability to survive prolonged exposure to the harsh interstellar space
conditions.

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics