Here is the reason why gravity and acceleration feel and act exactly like the same thing. They are exactly the same thing. There is absolutely no force or field causing objects to be attracted to one another.  There are no 'gravitons.'  There are no 'gravity waves.'  Space is not the only thing that is expanding. Matter and energy are also expanding.

     Every particle in the Universe is perpetually expanding at a constant relative rate. The space between each particle is also expanding at a constant relative rate. The energy that radiates from matter is also expanding at a constant relative rate. Everything stays relative. The Moon still goes around the Earth. The tides still come and depart. The distant galaxies still look like they are red-shifted, and accelerating as they recede. The Universe still works just as good, only now, you don’t need any ‘dark matter’ to hold it together. Inertia holds it together.

     To make it easier to understand, the laws of motion should be looked at from a different point of view. Instead of saying "An object in motion tends to stay in motion...," we should say "Inertia resists the acceleration or deceleration of matter." In order for any object or particle to begin moving, it must accelerate. In order for any object or particle to cease moving, it must decelerate. In order for any moving object or particle to change direction of travel, it must both accelerate and decelerate at the same time.

     Everything is perpetually expanding. The entire Universe is in a continuos state of acceleration. An atom is the smallest possible particle of any substance. The scientists consider sub-atomic particles to be ‘matter,’ because they have mass, but they are not a ‘substance.’ You can’t go the store and buy a jar of protons.

     Let’s say that atoms are generally spherically shaped particles that are perpetually expanding at a constant rate. This means that the surface of an atom is accelerating away from the center of the atom. Let’s arbitrarily say that atoms expand at a rate of 20% per second, for the sake of testing a thought experiment.

     Let’s say that at our frame of reference starting point in time, the atom has a diameter of 1 unit (u). At the end of 1 second, the atom’s diameter is 1.2u, a gain of .2u per second. At the end of 2 seconds, the diameter is 1.44u, a gain of .24u per second. At the end of 3 seconds, the diameter is 1.728u, a gain of .288u per second. At the end of 4 seconds, the diameter is 2.0736u, a gain of .3456u per second. The surface of the atom is accelerating away from the center of the atom.

     Imagine that we can put two equal atoms right next to each other. We now have an object made of two atoms. Each atom is expanding. The point where they touch each other is the center of the object. As each atom expands, it pushes against the other atom. Inertia resists the acceleration of matter. Since the atoms are equal, the equal and opposite reactions cancel each other out. The center of each atom is being accelerated through space. Inertia resists this acceleration, making the two atoms stick together as if they were being held together by a force. The sides of this two-atom object opposite the center of the object, are accelerating away from the center of the object at twice the rate for a single atom object.

     The Earth is just a big ball of atoms. The surface of the Earth is accelerating away from the center of the Earth. The ground we walk on is actually accelerating upwards at a relative rate of 32ft/second squared faster than the relative expansion of the space occupied by the Earth.

     There is no such thing as ‘gravity.’ There is only acceleration. The presence of a material object does cause an actual pucker, or warped stretching in the expansion of the space around it. There is no force or field causing the warp in space. There is absolutely no force causing objects to be attracted to each other.

     If we draw a line from the center of the Earth to a point on it’s surface, the line does not pass through pure matter. The substance of an object is partially matter and partially space. There is slightly more matter than there is space. Within each atom is a 3 dimensional area that displaces space. In a line from the center of the Earth to a point on it’s surface, there is not as much space as there would be for a line of equal length in outer space. Therefore, the space within and immediately around a material object can’t expand as fast as empty space, thus creating a pucker in space around the material object. The ‘gravity’ that we feel on the surface of the Earth is the difference between the perpetual expansion of the space within the Earth, and the perpetual expansion of the matter within the Earth.

     Moving objects move in straight lines. There is no ‘force’ causing the Moon to circle the Earth. The Moon is moving in a straight line. The space that the Moon is moving through is puckered by the presence of the more massive Earth, thus causing the straight line to appear to be curved in a circle. The only natural forces that can change the direction of travel for a moving object are magnetism, and friction or collision with other material or objects. "How does a straight line appear as a circle?" you may ask. A baseball batter hitting a home run is a good example.

     Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When the pitcher throws the ball, and the batter swings the bat, there is a time period of direct physical contact between the bat and the ball. The bat and the ball are moving in opposite directions, and at the moment of impact, the ball compresses like a spring, storing up kinetic energy. The bat will also compress and flex, storing up kinetic energy. While the ball is decompressing and still in contact with the bat, it is accelerating. At the moment that the ball loses contact with the bat, it stops accelerating. From that point on, the ball is moving at a constant velocity in a perfectly straight line. The only thing effecting its speed or direction is air resistance.

     Air has mass, and as the ball moves through the air, it must push the air in front of it out of the way. The inertial resistance of the mass of the air being pushed has an opposite reaction on the motion of the ball, causing it’s velocity to slow down. If we take away the effects of air, there is nothing else acting on the speed or direction of the moving ball. The ball moves at a constant speed in a straight line.

     As observers, we see the ball climb upward while it appears to slow in it’s vertical ascension. The vertical motion reaches a peak, and the ball begins to descend. If the horizontal momentum transferred to the ball by the swinging bat is sufficient, the ball will be horizontally beyond the far wall before it hits the ground with apparent accelerating velocity.

     As observers, we are standing on the ground, or sitting in a seat which is attached to the ground, so our point of view is with the ground. The ground is accelerating upward at 32ft/second squared, and so are we. When the ball loses contact with the bat, it is no longer accelerating, but moving at a constant speed that is greater than the upward speed of the ground at the moment of impact. We watch as the ball rises skyward.

     The ball’s upward velocity is constant, while the observer’s upward velocity continues to increase. The ball appears to the observers to slow down, when it is actually the observers who are moving faster. Eventually, the upward velocity of the observers surpasses the upward velocity of the ball. The ball then appears to be descending. In reality, the ball is still moving in the same direction and the same speed as it was when it lost contact with the bat, discounting air resistance. The ground that the observers are standing on continues to accelerate upwards. By the time the upwardly accelerating ground surface catches up with the coasting ball, there is enough difference in speed for the ball to absorb more kinetic energy on impact and again accelerate upwards. The observer sees this as a bounce off the ground.

     The way anything happens on the deck of Einstein’s accelerating space ship, is exactly the way it happens here on Earth. There is no such thing as ‘gravity,’ as most scientists perceive it. When scientists photograph bending starlight, the light is still moving in a straight line, just like in the accelerating space ship. During the time it takes for the light to travel past the Sun, the Sun has expanded while puckering the expanding space around it. From the observer’s point of view, the light appears to bend as it travels past the Sun. Just like on Einstein’s space ship, the light is still moving in a straight line, it just appears to bend from the observer’s point of view.