After driving nine miles, over four cattle guards, along a private road just northwest of Amarillo, I worried that I might have made a wrong turn as I saw an entry gate on the horizon bearing the name “Mack Dick Ranch.” But soon enough I came upon what could be mistaken for a standard methane gas plant, complete with a skunk-like odor.The facility’s collection of Cold War–era stainless steel pipes and office buildings create a mood of drab utilitarianism, in muted tones of green, gray, and mustard yellow. I’d come here to see for myself where the federal government stores enough helium to fill about 13,000 Goodyear blimps—each big enough to carry ten tons of cargo—or more than 4 billion mylar party balloons.Known as the…
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