Static Electricity means an imbalance of electric charge. An electrically "charged" object contains more protons than electrons, or it contains more electrons than protons. This is experienced when you try to separate clean clothes. They make a crackling sound. Sparks and lightning are "static electricity," and the "static" inside the clothes, which creates the cling effect, is electricity. The same static electricity or high voltage exists around a balloon.
<br/>The air around the balloon feels really strange when you rub the balloon against a cloth or hair. Whenever we have high voltage, then we also have electrostatic attraction and repulsion. High voltage can attract cloth or tiny bits of paper and it can even make hair stand up. With high voltage we also get long sparks, crackling noises, and blue glows and flashes. Sometimes doorknobs contain static and can make a spark when you touch them. High voltage makes ozone; the stuff that gives that funny chlorine smell.