I think you're on to something.
I am not a tinfoil hatter, and I've had my share of arguments with those I call "conspiracy nuts" (and I have been called a "coincidence nut.") But I remember the day that the Waldheim story broke on the front page of the New York Times in 1986. Facts, names, places, dates, photographs, all at once. Full documentation. With no prior warning.
Forty-year-old stories just do not break that suddenly and completely. It could only have been stuff that was in someone's file. There is no doubt in my mind about this. The full story has yet to be told.