It looks like a piezo-electric butane lighter (held upside down) to me.

Bear

I’ve been making and using soda cans stoves for a couple of years. I first got the idea from an article in a hiking magazine (don’t remember the name) in the dentist’s office. They are easy to make, all you need is 1 or 2 soda cans and a knife. For an even smaller one use 2 of the 5.5 oz V-8 cans. I use denatured alcohol in mine but even rubbing alcohol works, it just doesn’t burn as clean. For a pot stand I cut a piece of hardware cloth to fit the inside and bent the ends out to support the pot, sierra cup, can, etc.
My BOB has a stove, mini Bic, and a small bottle of alcohol in a blue enamel camping cup I got at Wal-mart. The plastic lid from a peanut can fits the cup and keeps it from falling out.
With 2 oz of alcohol it burns for over 10 minutes, boils water in about 5 minutes. We used ours to make coffee and heat up soup during a power outage after a storm this summer.