My guess is that was a joke...

I'm trying to remember where I read about a stardrive that consisted of projecting a black hole in front of a ship so that it was always falling towards it.

That and Douglas Adam's infinite improbability drive are the most creative star drives I've read about.

There are many jokes and personal messages in the details of the Star Trek sets. They are usually where they won't be noticed.

The only connection I can think of on this one in the real world is that people who dive very deep in the ocean and work there for extended times breath a mixture of oxygen and helium in their tanks, because they cannot absorb nitrogen at that pressure. Because helium makes your voice pitch up to Mickey Mouse levels, the divers sometimes have trouble communicating under already laborious pressure. They actually go through extra training to strengthen their lungs in order to be able to speak much louder, otherwise they would be subject to respiratory failure. I believe this is called a "loud helium voice."