Maybe it isn’t real, and it’s something made up to fit preexisting equations?
And they make fun of us for “making up” God. ;)
Except He shows His presence in the lives of LOTS of us.
Dark matter is fiction needed to support the hrs irrational model of the universe. The electromagnetic model does not need it.
Like neutrinos. No mass, no charge, but their presence solve unworkable equations pretty well.
“Maybe it isn’t real, and it’s something made up to fit preexisting equations?”
I tend to agree. But I can also see how physicists might be inclined to leave no stones unturned before throwing under the bus a set of equations that have been working rather well.
Another possibility might be this. According to Einstein gravity is just the result of warped space, and matter is one thing that warps space, but maybe it isn’t the only thing that does the warping, or maybe space may be “naturally warped” causing what we observe.