Heard something pacing on my roof at 3am and my dog refused to move

That pacing detail is what gets me. Random animal noise is one thing but something moving back and forth deliberately, like it's aware of you? That's a completely different category of experience.

What did the pacing sound like in terms of weight? Like something light and quick or heavier, deliberate footfalls? And did your dog go silent or was it whining, because I've noticed in a lot of accounts the dog behaviour varies depending on what type of encounter people seem to be having.

The 3am timing is also worth noting, there's a reason so many of these things happen in that specific window and I don't think it's coincidence.

I had something similar years back in the Highlands, not on the roof but circling the house, and my cat just sat completely frozen facing the back door for about 40 minutes. Never did that before or since. Whatever it was my animals knew something I didn't.

Has anything else unusual happened since? That's usually the question nobody thinks to ask straight away.

The dog reaction is what I keep coming back to. Animals don't perform - if it locked up and wouldn't move, something had its full attention in a way we probably can't fully appreciate.

@GeorgeMothman did the pacing follow a consistent path, like the same route repeated, or was it more irregular? That distinction seems important to me because some explanations (animal, person) would suggest irregular movement, whereas something more purposeful might stick to a pattern.

dogs genuinely do not lie, that's the thing - my mate's cat did something similar once near a known ley line intersection near Clifton and just became a statue for about 20 minutes, wouldn't eat, wouldn't blink. whatever these things are they seem to register on animals on a frequency we've completely lost.