Leonard Knight must have been very impressed when he saw a hot air balloon fly near his home in Vermont in 1971. When he later moved to Nebraska, he built his own balloon with the words, “God is Love” but never got it to fly. Finally in 1984, Leonard moved to a remote desert town in California called Niland and decided this would be the place to build his testimonial to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RZVpbLK8qQ