Impactor grazing miss...

The disastrous effects of large impactors have been discussed on this
ng many times, but in theory, an impactor of modest size could
penetrate Earth's atmosphere on a grazing path and still _miss_,
momentarily in the atmosphere but not striking the planetary surface
(either land or sea).

What are the differences going to be?  There would still (I assume) be
'tubal heating', and the shockwaves could be impressive.  How hard
would it be for an impactor (or near-impactor, in this case) to
penetrate the atmosphere sufficiently to cause major effects, and
still miss the planet?

                                                     Shermanlee