Many "first explanations" in science described it backwards!
Describing new phenomena is fraught with pit-falls
Newton HAD A 50/50 Chance in Guessing the "Source" of Gravity!
The "Accepted" Story: Imagine the classic story about Newton and the Apple... Picture Newton on a sunny afternoon propped up against the apple tree, reading his book. Occasionally he gazes over the top of the book to view the majesty of the rolling hills and earth in front of him. Without warning, he is struck on the head by an apple. His instant inspiration is... "all this majesty that is the earth has reached out and embraced the apple and drawn it home with some unknown mechanism and I will call this attractive force GRAVITY[1]".
The new "SPUE Tale" Version: Picture Newton, at dusk, laying on his back under the apple tree. His book is propped up on his chest. Occasionally he looks up over the top of his book and ponders the emerging stars. Without warning, he is struck on the forehead by an apple. His instant inspiration is... "all the stars in God's infinite universe spue-out faint light. These light particles and who knows what other invisibly small particles??? have rained down upon this apple and knocked it from its perch on the branch. The apple, in turn, rained down upon me and knocked me toward my Mother Earth! Because my Mother Earth protects me from this stellar rain storm below my feet, I am always pressed into her loving arms by the grace of God and the capriciousness of the spuing stars above. This abiding, cascading, pressure from the constant rain of invisible "tiny apples" from the heavens I shall call Sub-sub-sub-atomic Particles Universally Emancipated ("SPUE")! Henceforth, the "general tendency of objects to draw nearer to each other" will be called GRAVITY[2] and the mechanism shall be called "SPUE Theory."
To quote a new acquaintance: "Gravity Sucks, but SPUE Theory Blows" -- very succinct and accurate! 20 Oct 2004
Above Credit: <http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html>
In recent years, a lot of research is dedicated to explaining "inertia" and most approaches will ignore gravitational effects and focus on electromagnetic forces. Maverick scientists are beginning to organize... <>