Alien Technology?
Nope! This is actually a carbide lamp 🙂
How does it work? Well…pellets or chunks of calcium carbide are placed in the lower chamber. The upper chamber is then filled with water. A screw valve or other mechanism is used to control the rate at which the water is allowed to drip into the chamber containing the calcium carbide. By controlling the rate of water flow, the production of acetylene gas is controlled. This, in turn, controls the size of the flame which has a reflector behind it to redirect light to the front.
When was the last time you saw a lamp like this?