  The detection and identification of distant galaxies is a prominent goal of
observational cosmology because distant galaxies are seen as they were in the
distant past and hence probe early galaxy formation, due to the cosmologically
significant light travel time. We have sought to identify distant galaxies in
very deep spectroscopy by combining a new spectrum extraction technique with
photometric and spectroscopic analysis techniques. Here we report the
identification of a galaxy of redshift z = 6.68, which is the most distant
object ever identified. The spectrum of the galaxy is characterized by an
abrupt discontinuity at wavelength $\lambda \approx 9300$ \AA, which we
interpret as the \lya decrement (produced by intervening Hydrogen absorption),
and by an emission line at wavelength $\lambda \approx 9334$, which we
interpret as \lya. The galaxy is relatively bright, and the ultraviolet
luminosity density contributed by the galaxy alone is almost ten times the
value measured at $z \approx 3$.
