This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Helium strikes again. The funniest of all gasses broke the heart of Londoner and jokester Lefkos Hajji, who had concealed a $12,000 engagement ring in a balloon full of the stuff. His plan? To hand his intended, Leanne, a pin so she could pop the balloon as he popped the question.

Sadly, just as Hajji exited the jewelers, a gust of wind snatched the balloon from his hand allowing wicked helium to carry his rock into the sky. A frantic two-hour car chase ensued, man vs. balloon, but eventually the helium made a clean getaway.

The English seem to have a particular problem with helium. In 2007, Calum McFadyen, at his four-year-old son's behest, tied his wedding ring to a Thomas the Tank Engine helium balloon while playing in the house. He forgot about it until his son opened the front door and the balloon made a mad, successful, dash for freedom. His dad was particularly miffed that his son stood in the doorway gleefully waving goodbye to his balloon.

The lesson? Never mix fine jewelry and helium: the cops don't pay attention to callers with high, squeaky voices, no matter how desperately you need their helicopter.

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

At the current pace of usage, there exists a real threat of depletion of current domestic helium supplies. So say managers of our only national helium stockpile near Amarillo Texas. A report from Kim McGuire at the St Louis Dispatch makes clear that this reality concerns more than the just attendees of children's birthday parties and a few Donald Duck impersonators.

Scientist claim that helium reserves could be depleted in as little as ten years, a reality which worries experts in the fields of medicine, microchip manufacture, nuclear science, and Garfield balloons. Helium, which is abundant in our universe yet relatively scarce here on earth, plays a major role in many facets of industrial production. It is reported that dwindling helium supplies have driven helium prices up by as much as 50% over the past twelve months, deeply affecting companies such as Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX). It is also worthy of note that NASA uses massive amounts of helium annually to pressurize fuel tanks for shuttle missions.

Lee Sobotka, a chemistry and physics professor at Washington University stated "...it's incumbent upon us to have a vision, and tell it like it is, (helium is) a resource that is more strictly nonrenewable than either oil or gas."

Presently, efforts are successfully under way to make helium use more efficient and to recapture helium at it's points of use. Helium as an element can be captured as a by product of natural gas extraction but intensity in those efforts needs to be redoubled. Adding to the supply concerns currently faced are the facts that two off shore helium producers have faltered in their efforts to bring helium plants on line, and several domestic producers have shuttered domestic helium plants in recent years.