Lighting Up the Matter

I was looking thru my father’s old tool box the other day and found a small light bulb.  It seems to be made into three parts, all aluminum pieces. After examining it for a few minutes, I realized it was broken. Never to work again till someone smarter finds it...

Way back as a child, I remembered my Uncle taking me outside at night to see one just like it. He stuck it into the ground and after a minute or so, it began to glow in the darkness. After asking him how it worked, he replied,” Only Uncle Nick knew.” My father’s is missing a wire on the bottom that was placed into the ground. The chemistry of it? Not sure. His no longer works... I wondered who was Uncle Nick though. I never met him...