You can’t escape gravity. Neither can buildings, trees, cars, or most of the things you see every day. Gravity pulls most objects to Earth’s surface. But something very common escapes and floats—the gas helium.

We mean it when we say helium is common. After hydrogen, it’s the most plentiful element in the universe! Helium is lighter than air.

Have you ever watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade on TV? Huge balloons fill the sky. The Snoopy balloon is as big as a three-story building! And what’s filling Snoopy? It’s helium, of course!

Humans can do a lot of cool things with God’s creation—even the invisible parts. Helium forms underground. It comes from all over the world, too. The helium filling the Uncle Sam balloon could have come from Kansas. It also could have come from Africa. Workers extract helium from the ground. Then they chill it. It turns to liquid. After that, it’s way easier to move.

The helium is loaded into steel trucks. The day before the parade, the trucks drive to Manhattan. Then the pumping begins! That’s a lot of work. And you thought blowing up balloons with your own lungs was hard!

After the parade, the helium is released. It goes back into the sky—until next year.