Pretty strange, though, when 1 considers that bodies of mass are said to generate "MAGNETIC" forces. Which means things are being PULLED TO them. I.e., the mass is the 1 generating the force toward itself, not some other body - unseen - pushing away from itself, from who knows how far away!
Is it not possible that the magnetic force is not a force pulling, but a force neutralizing or amplifying another force that normally is pushing? I think you probably see where I am going here. It is sort of a relative force thing. There is just so much we don't know that often we find our position is based on what appear to be obvious assumptions, but end up being incorrect.
All we can do is posit a theory and trust it until evidence proves otherwise. Often 1 can go a long ways before 1 discovers an hypothesis or theory is dead wrong. Ptolomy's theory actually got him quite a ways before he realized he was dead wrong.