ease up on your dad. more than likely, he just didnt know any better. the bulb you are an infared heat bulb, mainly used for reptiles to provide heat without the being in their visible spectrum at night or during the day. I know that zoo-med has an actual picture of a chameleon on their day(blue), moon(black/purple), and infared bulbs' boxes. Not to mention, depending on where he got it, he probably had some "reptile expert" telling him what to buy.
Just tell him it's a fluorescent tube reptiSUN 5.0 UVB, and he should be able to pick it up.