Static Electricity

Static Electricity is the electricity that builds up on materials that have become charged by one neutral substance rubbing against another, or by contact.

Static charge usually leaks slowly away from the charged substance through the surrounding materials, such as air.
Sometimes the charge jumps quickly from one object to another, for example when lightning leaps from a cloud to the ground. Click on reload or refresh to see the lightning strike again.

Here is another excellent animation from Molecular Expressions